Unnatural
by Hlbur14
Summary: Life in Zootopia is about as normal and peaceful as it gets, apart from the chaos caused by Nick and Judy of course. But tensions are high from recent events, and the unlikely duo is going to be put through a test beyond their comprehension. Their friendship is seen as wrong, and enemies want it to end. They must do everything to keep each other safe, but fate has other plans.
1. Prologue

**Okay, I am in love with this film. I love the premise, the characters, and damn the friendship between Nick and Judy is precious!**

 **As soon as it finished I had an idea for this story, and I really hope you enjoy it :)**

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Zootopia. A place without messy conflicts; a place where predator and prey mingle together in a peaceful harmony.

If only.

With animals come instincts born into the bloodline of any particular species. Instincts make things horribly messy. No matter what any predator said, no matter how loyal prey portrayed themselves to their supposed enemies, there was always that underlining current of tension that would never truly go away. That hunger that twisted painfully in a lion's gut, that twitch of fear behind the eye of any mouse.

No matter how professionally hidden, instinct was always going to be a problem.

Or perhaps a problem to most.

However, the fox and the rabbit in Zootopia, forever seen laughing and joking and causing havoc in the name of the law, would always be that sliver of hope that kept the town on its feet.

Yet even the closest of friends had their bumps in the road, just as Nick Wilde and Judy Hopps were going to learn the hard way. There was only so long that a fox and a bunny could play nice before reality kicked in.

Fellow animals didn't like the friendship. They hated it, in fact. They saw it as wrong, unsettling, against the laws of nature. Crazed minds believed that life in Zootopia was a joke, a fraud; make believe. No. Prey was prey for a reason. Hunters killed prey to survive, not run around saving idiot civilians living a lie.

No.

Nick and Judy were not the faces of a new generation of equality and unlikely friends. They were enemies, natural _born_ enemies, and somebody had to remind them of that.

The fox was a cunning, sly, crafty deviant.

A rabbit was, well, a _rabbit_! What use was one of those other than eating and selling carrots? Unbelievable!

Judy Hopps, you were about to be put in your place: at the bottom of the food chain.


	2. Freedom

Judy Hopps took a deep breath, letting the summer air fill her lungs to the point she thought she might explode. Summer was her favourite time of the year, where the flowers had blossomed and declared their colourful lives to the world. Grass was fresh, a blissful smell of openness and freedom. She remembered when she was a kitten, running through the fields near her home, racing her siblings and friends. She remembered how the warm, lusciously green grass felt between her paws. At that age, she ran on all fours, running so fast she used to think she could take off flying.

Back then it was blissful, open, _real._

Now she was looking out on the landscape beyond Zootopia, past the noisy traffic and the loud, endless hustle and bustle of the city's residents. She loved her life there, of course she did, but that didn't mean she never missed the life she had had once before.

The urge to run even now was relentless, the twist in her powerful thighs so hard to resist. That was the perk of her job, being an officer. It involved lots of running, lots of leaping and bounding and being everything that she was, but when there was no crime to solve and no bandits to catch, there was nothing but longing.

Many still laughed at her for being a cop. It was the ears, the fluff-ball of a tail, the huge eyes; so many were yet to take her seriously. It frustrated her, and understandably so. What would it take for her life to not be a joke? What lengths did she have to go to in order to gain the respect she deserved? It was at times like this, when the doubt of who she was began to poison her mind, that she just wished she could run away from it all and never look back.

"Hey, Carrot, whatcha' doing?" came the rolling voice of her best friend, Nick Wilde. He spoke so coolly, not having a care in the world, his eyelids half way shut with the sly laziness only a fox would have. He looked bored a lot of the time, much to Judy's amusement, for she knew all to well what a truly calculated, clever fox he was.

He was tapping away idly at his phone, though she was never really sure who he was talking to. Maybe it was all for show, but she hardly minded. Once he was next to her, he tucked the device away into his trouser pocket and smiled at her fondly. His sunglasses rested on the top of his head, his tie loose around his neck, so cool and nonchalant yet smart all at the same time. His green eyes were judging, already trying to look into her mind to figure out what she was thinking, but to no avail. She did as she always did; beamed her best smile at him and asked how his day went.

Both of them had had the day off, and while they'd met up for coffee that morning, they'd departed to attend errands. Or, at least, Nick did; Judy had had a very lonely day. But she would never admit that. Nick had a life far more expanded than hers, with many other animals he knew and socialised with, whilst all she had was her family who were at home in Bunnyburrow. She refused to be the one to hold him back from living his life apart from her just out of pity.

However, this time, he saw past her bright smile and enthusiastic voice. Much to her annoyance, Nick knew her better than anyone else, which meant he knew when she was fibbing.

"What's wrong?" he asked her, his eyes fully opening yet looking tender.

 _Damn you, Nick,_ she thought furiously, and closed her eyes in defeat. She flopped to the floor, weaving the thin grass through her paws, taking in yet another deep breath. Nick joined her, staring at her, waiting patiently. Judy let her ears droop in defeat as she leaned against her friend, letting him put his arm around her waist to tug her closer into a side hug.

She looked out into the distance again, remembering her childhood once more, when everything had seemed so much easier.

"You know what? Don't tell me, I'm quite happy enjoying the last of the sun. Can't have bunny tears, now can we?" Nick joked, winking at her, and secretly telling her that he knew she didn't have to tell him anything she didn't want to. She was grateful, sighing in relief.

She smirked when he retrieved his phone once more, catching a glimpse of his lock screen; a photo of them, pulling silly faces at the camera, Judy on his back and leaning over his head, pushing an eye shut but Nick's grin didn't waver. It was such a simple photo, so innocent and playful, but the reality and depth behind it made her heart ache.

How had they managed this? How did they become so close, a rabbit and a fox? Zootopia or not, she knew that many thought it was weird, unnatural. But they were best friends; bound together through circumstances neither of them could have comprehended. She, a rabbit, had trusted him wholeheartedly enough to act out a violence act. She'd let him corner her, pretend to be the predator nature wanted him to be, doing the very thing he was born to do. His teeth had been so close to her face, her neck, that she could smell his breath, warm and laboured, and yet she was never once afraid. Not even for a second.

That defied nature.

They were a bizarre pair, she knew that, but she would never dream of changing it. Nick was a part of her, and she was a part of him. Partners in the law, best friends never seen before. The beginning of a strange era, maybe.

"Want to get a milkshake? I could really use a milkshake." Was all she murmured after a few moments of peaceful silence, marvelling in the warmth of the sun and the steady breathing of Nick beside her.

His glasses had fallen over his eyes, and he used a single claw to lift them up slightly.

"Will that cheer you up?"

"Absolutely."

"Then what are we waiting for?" he smiled, pulling her to her feet. "I'll drive."

"Dibs on the playlist choice!" she declared, and before he could respond his no doubt outraged response of protest, she was bolting for his car, easily outrunning him and his disgusted cries. She found herself laughing, and unknown to her, Nick was grinning too.

* * *

From the shadows, lurking in a distasteful manner, a newcomer was finding herself becoming annoyed. She could see the well-known duo strolling into some kind of evening café, laughing and babbling away about utter nonsense. The fox opened the door and allowed the rabbit to step through first, oh, how _gentlemanly_. That little rat should have been the one cowering away from the door to let him through, not bouncing along in glee as he followed, fondly rolling his eyes.

Ffion Hunt was a vixen that lived to her species expectations. A fox, her fur a stunning red and white, smooth and shimmering, her tail groomed and perfect as it swayed side to side in frustration. She and Nick Wilde had crossed paths before, but she did not remember him as this. Back that, he'd been a hustler, a skilled one at that, who took no nonsense from anyone. And now he was hopping with the rabbits and a happy, completely ludicrous world.

Eyes on the bunny, those big violet eyes too innocent and curious for her liking, Ffion licked her lips in a longing that surpassed the rules of society. Luckily, she had a bit of self-control. Unfortunately for the rabbit, she was going to have a new resident in town.

Things were about to get interesting. Ffion always got what she wanted, and right now, she wanted this cute little rabbit out of the picture. A Nick? Well, he needed to be taught a lesson. Nobody made a laughing stock out of foxes. It was time to pay her old friend a visit.


	3. Hunt

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 **Enjoy!**

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Nick remembered his childhood like it was only yesterday, but mostly in the years after the bullying.

He remembered becoming incredibly resentful and sharp tongued, the relationship he had with his parents becoming strained. They never truly understood what happened, for the depth of the hurt and isolation done to Nick never truly hit home for they never experienced it themselves. Never had they had their muzzles forced shut, their cries of innocence ignored. All they could do was watch Nick suffer in silence, but any chance of comfort they offered was quickly shook off by their son.

Before Judy, he'd forgot how it felt to care. The harshness that fell from his tongue that were aimed to hurt the rabbit simply bounced off of her, never truly wounding her. Never had he seen such stubbornness from such an animal. He'd always grown up to believe that rabbits were simple, easily spooked and lived quiet lives carrot farming. So imagine his surprise upon seeing her in a cop's uniform, in the heart of Zootopia, far away from anywhere carrots could possibly grow. He found it funny if not endearing.

And, well, she was clever. A clever bunny, who'd have thought it? She'd hustled him _twice._ No one hustled Nick Wilde, and it was the second time that she did it that he knew she was something else.

Yet despite her quick wit and her unrelenting need to succeed, he knew that before they met she had been a very lonely individual. Just like he was. And after the case they had worked on together was solved, she'd explained to him why she used to carry that fox repellent around with her. It infuriated him, despite knowing that the fox that'd scratched her so fiercely at such a young age had indeed apologised to her. The thought of _any_ animal laying a paw on her was something he refused to comprehend for he would never let it happen. Ever.

She was the only animal to ever truly understand him in this not so perfect world they shared, and they were a pair. If you wanted to find Judy, fine Nick, and vice versa.

He was laughing at a story she was telling so over the top, teasing the straw in his milkshake with his teeth, daring not to drink for fear of choking. For a rabbit, she had a very clumsy past, much to his amusement. He never heard the bell of the café open, too intent on her story, watching her arms flail, her ears flop and rise excitedly, and sometimes even bouncing in her seat; the complete opposite to his cool, composed nature.

"Nick Wilde?" the female voice pulled him from his trance, confused and suddenly alert. He hadn't noticed that Judy had stopped talking a few moments before the voice spoke out, her eyes wide and resting on someone behind him. He turned, shifting himself so that he concealed Judy with his body despite the table being in the way. The urge to move to her side was strong, yet the figure now in front of him had him paralysed.

When he was twelve, he'd stumbled across another young vixen, perhaps just a couple years younger than him. She'd been terrorising the local rodents, and chasing the young lambs in the back streets, going as far as to run on all fours to give that added effect of a wild animal. Her yellow eyes had been big and excited back then, but fierce slits when she'd first spotted him. He remembered her tackling him to the ground despite being smaller than him, going as far as snapping at his face, only to roll off of him in a fit of laughter, crying out, "Your face!" over and over again.

That same vixen stood in front of him now. She was a couple of inches shorter than he was, with slick fur as red as a freshly picked apple, shimmering beneath the animal-made light. She wore dark jeans and a silk white shirt, her tail combed smooth with a natural white tip. She had her ears pulled back in nervousness, her eyes big and only on him. For a second he couldn't take her eyes off her, and hardly noticed the uncomfortable fidgeting of his friend behind him.

"Ffion Hunt, well I'll be," he said, finally climbing out of his seat, feeling a little unsteady. "It's been a long time."

"I just moved back here, heard it was a place where you could be anything you wanted to be. I can't see much of a difference other than more animals." She smiled, a very, very pretty smile. "I heard you're on the police force now. Congratulations. You solved the case of those animals turning savage, am I right?"

" _We_ solved that case," Judy finally perked up. Nick cringed, looking back at her.

"I-I'm sorry, Ffion, this is my friend Judy Hopps, my partner."

"Partner?"

"At work." Judy quickly corrected.

"I see," Ffion smiled, "well I was just passing through, and I saw you through the window; I just had to see if it was you. It's so good to see you, Nick."

Nick swallowed, his collar becoming incredibly tight around his neck. He had never seen such a creature look so… _stunning._

"Why don't the two of you go for a catch up? It seems like you need one. It's late anyway."

"No, no…" Nick stuttered, struggling to gather his composer. _Pull yourself together, you dumb dog._ He took a deep breath, smoothed the features of his face, and finally relaxed into the smirk that he was known for, at last looking indifferent. "That's alright, we can catch up tomorrow if you like, grab a coffee before I go to work?"

Ffion smiled gratefully. "That would be lovely. I'll see you soon, Nick," she turned slightly to Judy, "Hopps."

When she left, Nick could finally catch a breath, yet he could feel the deep curiosity of his friend behind him. _Oh boy._

* * *

"When was the last time you saw another fox, let alone a vixen?" Judy inquired, smirking. It wasn't often she had Nick cornered, but when she did she had every intention on keeping him there. There was nothing more satisfying than watching a fox squirm in front of a rabbit.

"Let it go, Carrot."

"Oh no, not this time, your cheeks went redder than your fur." She giggled, trying to be as happy as ever. She wasn't. The encounter had unnerved her. She'd looked at her like she was nothing more than a rodent, barely acknowledging her. Her gaze had been sharp, unkind, hiding an intention she couldn't fathom. Ironically, she was all fox, her demeanour false. She doubted Nick had noticed, but she certainly had. The look she'd been given made her skin crawl, and the urge to bolt from the café had been so strong it felt like an instinct. It was the fear all rabbits naturally had embedded in them, and it was a fear she had never even felt with Gideon Grey all those years ago. This fear was one she had never felt before, running deeper, into her veins and within her bones.

"She's just an old friend," Nick stated, eager to change the topic.

"With _history?_ " she pressed, nibbling on her straw in a bid to portray curiosity and excitement.

"Nope."

"Oh come on Nick, give me _something!_ " she pleaded, hoping to god it was a bad memory they shared rather than a good one. Nick looked her in the eyes, his face not smiling, his eyes not teasing. It was enough to silence her on the spot.

Her friend sighed, finishing his milkshake until it slurped before he stood, stretching his arms above his head. "It's late, I think we should go."

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean…"

"It's alright, Carrot." He smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. "Come on, I'll walk you home."

She followed him out of the door, her ears dropping. She hated upsetting Nick, the only true friend she'd ever had, and the guilt always hit her like a wave before it dragged her out into a vast openness of self-annoyance. She stayed behind him rather than beside him, careful not to tread on his tail. She couldn't help but notice that as they left the café, his ears pricked forward, his eyes looking for Ffion; even his nose flared with trying to catch her scent.

Judy shook her head to herself, keeping her eyes on the ground.

"Hey," Nick said when they reached her apartment, lightly knocking her shoulder. "Don't worry, okay? I'm fine."

She didn't believe him, frowning at him. He smirked, carefully lifting her into a tight hug, her feet no longer on the ground. She buried her face in his shoulder, sighing with a content smile.

"I'll see you at the office," Nick said and he propped her back on the ground.

"Don't be late," Judy retorted, smiling up at him. He winked, saluting her as he strolled into the road.

Before she closed the door on her friend, she caught the scent of something wrong. She flared her little nostrils, her whiskers vibrating with the movement, trying to identify the scent. Bad fruit, that was all she could think of.

Shaking off her worries she closed the door, settling in for the night in preparation for another day at work.

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	4. A New Case

**Chapter Three guys!**

 **Okay, so I will warn you, this is rated T, as there may be some violence the further down the line it goes, but nothing too graphic. Also, now that the plot is set in motion, the pace will start to pick up so please bare with me.**

 **Thank you for the follows, favourites and reviews, its very much appreciated!**

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"Hopps," said Chief Bogo, "can I have a word?"

Judy's ears fell back in nervousness, wondering what she had done wrong, only the Chief chuckled and assured her she was fine. He had gone a lot softer on her since the Savage Case, for she and Nick together had done an undeniably good job. She was eternally grateful, having also gained the respect of her fellow co-workers, who had once seen her as nothing more than a useless bunny.

She followed the buffalo into his office, feeling Nick's curious eyes on her back from their desk. Her chief carefully shut the door behind him, surprisingly delicate despite his rough and tough size. He looked down at her, something proud about his stance.

"You know how you've proven to be a worthy cop, Hopps, and I applaud you, as you know," he looked over she shoulder, back towards the door and through the glass, gazing fondly at his force. "You've changed things for the better around here, and you should be proud of that."

"I am, sir," she murmured, eying his quizzically. "But something tells me you didn't call me in here for a praise."

He chucked. "Nothing gets past you, now does it?" He then moved heavily behind his desk, up along the wall filled with files and cases that had either defined the force or have changed the nation. Among the files was a blue folder, not very think but with perhaps twenty or more pages in it. He placed it down on the desk, watching the young rabbit very carefully.

"I cannot trust the others to handle this delicately."

"Handle what delicately?"

He opened the file. Judy felt bile in her throat when he revealed the first image to her. A hedgehog, lay in a hospital bed, bruised to a pulp with scratches all over his body. He looked so defeated, so ready to give up, had it not been for the little paw placed in his just out of the shot, no doubt his wife at his bedside.

There was another image, one of a sheep. She was unconscious, with the same wounds if not worse. Balls of her woolly fur were violently missing, her left eye out of action having been slashed to the point that sight was out of the question. She had one leg bandaged, but that didn't stop the blood from seeping. She looked helpless in her bed, unresponsive to the help she was being given.

The final image was one that Judy could barely stomach. A hare, a cousin of her fellow rabbit species, attacked to the point that he no longer looked animal, only furry rags.

"Is he alive?" she whispered, daring to look at the image again.

"Barely. Intensive care; they're doing everything they can."

Judy nodded stiffly. "What happened to them?"

"These are only a selection of the attacks. They started a month ago, outside of Zootopia. All of the victims have been prey, taken in the night from the homes and dragged to somewhere vast, such as Mister Prickle being found in the heart of the woodland near his home. The attacks are becoming more vicious, and I worry that the next victim won't make it to the hospital in time."

"What other connections are there, other than them being prey?"

"None. At first we thought the attacks was done by a savage, and checked them all for Night Howler traces; perhaps someone was trying to continue the work of Bellwether. Not one single trace was found, and the victims told us they didn't act vicious in the way the infected predators had. The attackers spoke to them, and then attacked; they knew what they were doing."

"Did anyone see anything?"

"Blindfolded. Taken out in the night, threatened, and then released of their blindfold and chased until they ended up like this. When put in that kind of situation, the panic would have been blinding." The Chief sighed heavily. "They're not being done by one animal, either. The victims have told us both male and female voices were heard."

"How many victims?"

"Eight." The Chief looked her in the eyes, his tone sincere but careful, like this was a lot to ask. "I want you to identify the culprits, and I'll do the rest. Do not pursue them, Hopps, only identify. I will not have you putting yourself at that kind of risk."

"I can handle myself, Chief," Judy murmured, yet she couldn't keep the fear out of her voice. Never before had she seen such an occurrence; the new world, ruled by predator and prey alike, didn't see this kind of thing. The Night Howler was a first, and that was where it should have ended. And no one got hurt. But this, _this_ was out of her expertise. She didn't want to believe that this could happen to anyone. But she'd said it herself; the world was messy, and sometimes the glass of peace would shatter into fragments of chaos.

"I want in."

Judy started, staring at the door where Nick prowled, glaring at the pair.

"Wilde, I didn't call you in here." The Chief snapped, closing the files and hiding the images within.

"No, you called my partner in, with means what's her business in mine. I want _in._ "

"It's a delicate matter."

"I'm aware; prey getting torn up by an unknown culprit, and you want to put a rabbit in the firing line? _No._ Either I help or you can hand that case over to another department." Nick shut the door forcefully to prove his point of not going anywhere. Judy would have been angry, but the interference was a relief. She didn't think she was brave enough to handle this one on her own, simply due to its nature. She, along with any other species of prey, were in danger.

"I'm going to need help, sir," Judy murmured.

The Chief glared ferociously at the fox, who stared coolly back. Everyone in the room knew that Nick had gotten his way, he always did.

"Fine. Hopps, Wilde, find these vicious attackers, name them, and then leave the rest to us. _No pursuing._ Is that understood?"

"Yes, sir." The pair said in unison.

* * *

"Were you really considering on taking that case alone?" Nick demanded once they were outside, heading for a break to figure out what their first move would be.

"Maybe. I don't know." she shrugged, trying to be nonchalant. Of course her friend didn't buy it, though.

"You should have said no."

"And let more animals get hurt? I think not."

"You can't always be the hero, you know, you have limitations."

"And you don't?"

"I have teeth, you have a fluffy tail."

"Teeth won't bring down a serial attacker." She shook her head stubbornly as they walked. "Besides, we're only locating, nothing else."

"What's the fun in that?" he asked, sounding playful. He jumped in front of her, walking backwards in time with every step she made forward, holding his shades at the tip of his snout as he quizzed her with his eyes. " _Come on_ , Carrot. You remember the fun we had on that Night Howler case; the investigating, the running, that thrill of catching Bellwether and seeing the look on her face when we fooled her with our _amazing_ acting skills?" The pair stopped in the middle of the path, Nick poking Judy in her belly. "Admit it."

She glowered at him, yet couldn't keep the smirk from plaguing her mouth. She had missed that. The adrenaline of that case had been like nothing she had ever experienced, the running building up so much power in her body she thought that she had never caught a breath. For the first time she had felt like she was making a difference, catching a culprit, and having too much fun in the process.

"I see that smile," Nick teased, rocking on his heals in satisfaction.

She sighed, utterly defeated, and yet determined to be defiant. "Nick, I admit how much fun that was. But," she jabbed him back in his own stomach, "this one is more serious. Animals are getting hurt, frightened out of their wits, taken from their homes in the night. There's no fun and games about this one, not this time."

"Oh, how dare you, Officer Hopps," he said, eying her mischievously. "You work with Zootopia's expertise hustler, Officer Wilde, who knows anyone and everyone; we're gonna have tons of fun."

"I work with a dumb fox," she teased, elbowing him as they began walking.

"Don't make me laugh." He smiled, but then looked at her sincerely. "But please don't ever consider taking on a case like this alone. We're partners, remember? I've got your back so long as you have mine."

She smiled at him. "Better get some research done then, hadn't we?"

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	5. Researching

**Another chapter before I go to bed.**

 **Remember that this story is about the instincts of animals and the struggles that come along with it, that'd a very strong theme I have going for this, which might help give a bit more clarity on why Nick behaves the way he does in certain chapters.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Nick wanted to cringe.

At their desk, he and Judy were leaning over a selection of images, a base of each attack. Nick knew the ways of being an animal, like the ancestors before him and his fellow class of predators, and he knew that from the history of their nature their attacks had been in the purpose of ending a life to aid their own. It had never been anything personal; everyone knew that it was just evolution worked, and the brutality that came with it was something that had long ago been accepted.

But these attacks were not in the ways of survival. They were brutal, merciless. He could feel the aggression behind the wounds, and wanted nothing more than to cower in a corner from the shadowed culprit.

The hare stung the most, hitting close to home. Poor Richard Haring, living a little too close to Bunnyburrow, never saw it coming. His ears were shredded; tattered strips of fur flopped lifelessly at the sides of his head, the strength in them stripped away. His face, made up of a slightly longer snout than that of a rabbit, with harsher eyes and wired brown fur, was slashed through with four clean marks. Tufts of fur were missing from his midriff, and his right thigh was broken, carefully wrapped in bandages. Separately, the clothes he had been wearing during the attack were also photographed; a jumper no more than rags, torn and shredded beyond recognition had it not been for its label. His trousers were of a better state, though filthy, the hems of the legs worn, and the knee of the right leg torn.

His blood ran cold the longer he stared.

Nick's nature may have been associated to being untrustworthy, sly and swift, but deep down foxes were not aggressive animals. When put in a sticky situation, Nick was more for the option of running than fighting. Small, lean, and strength not really on his side, Nick was happy to keep a low profile and stay away from confrontation. His weapon was his mouth, not his claws. He had impressive teeth, but his snarl was meaner than his bite.

Among the images was a wounded beaver, known as Ted River from the Rainforest District. Oh, he was a sorry soul. One of his grand front teeth to nibble through wood was missing, and he was wound in layers of bandages around his belly so many times it looked like it was hard to breathe. His eyes were open, wide with fear, a fear he had never seen before. Judy started easily he had quickly come to learn, obviously because of who she was, but he had never seen this kind of fear in her eyes when he crept up on her, or when he tripped her up. Startled, yes, but not petrified like you'd think a rabbit would be. This beaver looked like he'd looked into the eyes of a monster beyond imagining.

The other six (a sheep, a young deer, a middle aged koala, an elderly zebra, a once healthy gazelle, and finally an okapi) were all the same; wounded, terrified beyond belief, and in desperate need of answers. If this got out to central and the districts beyond it, predators and prey would fear one another once more, and tensions were still high from the last incident without this obscenity.

He looked to his left, gazing at his unlikely long eared friend. She was so invested in the images presented before them and the information that came with them; she never noticed his uncertain stare. He looked at her huge, violet eyes scanning the text, her whiskers twitching in concentration, her ears pricked in full awareness. He truly wished she wouldn't be so stubborn and caring, and wanted all the more for her to be cowardly like her nature demanded she should have been. He wasn't sure what lengths he would go to in order to protect those he cared about, but he did know that Judy was very high up on his limited list. He wasn't sure how much his instincts limited him in keeping her safe, though. He had no faith in himself to put himself in the firing line, only to grab her and run. It worried him.

It sounded selfish, yes. But at the end of the day, as his now strange friend Mr Big had once stated, deep down all animals were exactly that, an animal. Nick would never be able to help who he was.

"They all got threatened with the same line," Judy said, pulling him out of his reverie.

"Huh?" he said, returning his eyes back to the papers at hand.

"' _Run as fast as you can, just like nature intended.'_ " Judy frowned. "All eight of them. That's what they all stated. They've never come into contact with one another, so there's no mixed stories or altered memories."

"What does that even mean?" Nick enquired.

"I don't know. There's more." She pointed to a line of text, and Nick followed her movement. "Mrs Stripe said that she had felt uncomfortable for a few days before the attack, like she was being watched, and that her son was playing in the backyard with other children, she suddenly felt physically ill." She moved her hand to another file. "Something similar happened to Haring; he said that when he was walking home one evening after departing from a friend, he constantly felt like he was being watched and followed. He was attacked three days later."

"So they're getting stalked before the attack?"

"It seems that way, but doesn't that seem odd to you? They're being selected out, but how?"

The link was indeed there. Miss Tuft, the sheep, had been heading home from her work when she claimed to have been seeing shadows left, right and centre. She also claimed that she was so afraid she ran, with made the whole ordeal a lot worse. She too was attacked three days later.

He leaned back in his chair, his ears flat against his head in annoyance. "I think we should talk to the victims."

"They've already been spoken to."

"Yeah, but I bet not by a rabbit. After that, I think the last animal they would want to talk to would be a tiger or buffalo. Remember Mrs Otterton? She approached you because she wasn't afraid to do so. Maybe these animals will reach out to you in a way they can't with others."

"I suppose I could try." She said before she yawned, her eyes becoming droopy.

"It can't hurt." He agreed. "But perhaps leave that for tomorrow."

His friend nodded in agreement, and the pair began to pack away before tiredly leaving the station for six in the evening.

They began their usual stroll home, tired and quiet, just enjoying the quiet walk together. However, they didn't get very far before Nick's nose twitched, pulling him in a direction that wasn't home.

Ffion was idling her way towards the pair, moving in a way that reminded Nick very much of his hustling days. She eyed him up and down, smirking at the uniform. Once again his collar became very tight, and if he could sweat he would have been doing so there and then.

Her gaze was cold as ice, judging every movement. He couldn't quite figure out if he was afraid of her or oddly attracted to her. It wasn't the attraction of lust, though, which was the strange part. It was an odd pull, his body wanting to move but his mind ordering him to stand still. It was almost out of his control, and never before had he been an uncontainable fox, he liked to be in control of his actions. This was just beyond frustrating, if not embarrassing.

"Looking very dashing, _Officer_." Ffion cooed, clad in a grey blouse, silky black and grey tights. "A uniform suits you."

"Hello, Ffion." Judy said politely, but she was completely ignored. Nick would have been annoyed if he couldn't stop staring and struggling to find a single word in his mouth.

"I'm sorry about not seeing you this morning, I got caught up unpacking, but if you wanted we could go for a quick bite to eat?" she batted her eyes at him, yellow gems inviting, an almost irresistible gaze. He blinked, trying to pull himself together.

"Uh, sure?" _Why did that sound like a question?_

"Nick?"

Judy's little voice brought him back down to earth with surprising force, like knocking him out of a dream. He looked at her, her face so confused, almost looking betrayed. Never did he leave her to walk home alone. It wasn't a spoken agreement, not a promise, but an automatic routine they had done for a number of months now. The look on her face was as if he snatched away her favourite toy and refused to give it back.

And then all he could see was Ffion's eyes as she placed herself between the pair. She linked her arm through his before wheeling him away in the opposite direction he had intended to walk in, almost rushing him to a point that he nearly tripped over his own two feet.

He managed to catch a glimpse of Judy over his shoulder, alone and droopy-eared, utterly abandoned.

"I'm sure your friend can manage an evening alone, Nick, in return for a much needed catch up." Ffion smiled. _No, do not let this get to you; remember what you learned._

Finally he smoothed his features, put his guilt aside, and focussed on the task at hand. He would be sure to text Judy later, unbeknownst to him that she would be long since asleep by the time he did.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! More to come hopefully tomorrow or Wednesday:)**


	6. Two Unlikely Helpers

**I apologise for any mistakes and I hope you all enjoy!**

* * *

Judy went home without Nick so much as looking back on her more than once. She'd watched him match his stride with Ffion's, falling into a rhythm of chatter than made her grind her teeth in frustration. He should have been focussing, not running around with the females of his species!

Then again, she was his old friend, not that he'd told her anything of their history together. Nick didn't like opening up to her, even after everything they'd been through, and she respected that. It wasn't like she was honest about everything in her life, either. It would probably be good for him, perhaps, to have someone else to focus his attention on rather than spending all of his time with a rabbit. They spent every day working together that he deserved some time alone or with other mammals. Being selfish wasn't her style.

"Well look what we have here, a cute little bunny in an officer's uniform; don't see that every day, do ya, Leo?"

Judy jumped, whipping around to her right, staring directly into the shadows of a dark alley. Two pairs of glowing eyes stared back at her before they moved forward, one a shocking red while the other was a crystal blue. By their scent, she knew what they were before she saw them. Bunnies had far more enemies than foxes, after all.

Had it not been for the thickness of the air and the very lonely feel that overcame her, she would have made an outburst to the "cute" comment.

The smell of coal was thick in the air, coal and damp earth and sometimes the fresh spring water that was purer than sweet, sweet summer. She could hear the razor sharp claws teasing the ground, the sound so faint to any other animal than her. It was a threatening gesture, the almost silent scratching making her twitch uncomfortably. She didn't need to think about what the other mammal would be, either.

While a cat was pure and majestic, a stoat was no better than a weasel if not worse. Like their cousins, they were common thugs she dealt with everyday in Zootopia, scamming others, pickpocketing them, sticking their noses in mammals' business where it was not wanted. They always smelt like bad eggs mixed with all the trash of the world, and it made her want to hold her breath in disgust.

The cat made himself known first, followed by the stoat, confirming her suspicions.

The cat was not much taller than she was, perhaps a head shorter than Nick. He was dressed casually, a blue shirt over a green t-shirt, accompanied by blue jeans. Black fur had a silky shine in the moonlight, cleanly groomed regularly. His ears were pricked, no doubt listening to the thundering of her heart that his satisfied grin suggested. He was chewing something, though she wasn't quite sure what, and she found herself staring into those blue eyes in a way that had her paralysed to the spot. Cats had a way of charm, not quite in the same way of a fox, but certainly not far off. She glanced at his hind claws continuing to tease the concrete, gulping nervously.

Mr stoat was equally as sly. He was in his summer coat, thin and slick why his movements had mischief write all over them, poised as if ready to pounce at any given moment. He had a bandana tight around his neck, red and blending into the collar of his purple shirt. He modelled black trousers, tight to his scrawny legs and must have been privately tailored for himself. His tail swished behind him, and he leaned one elbow up against the wall to balance himself.

"Not often we get to see Officer Hopps walking in the evening alone anymore, not with foxy around." the stoat said in the most mocking voice she had ever heard. "How sad; Nick used to be a fine hustler. _You_ transformed him into a cop. You should be ashamed."

"Hardly." She snapped in response, folding her arms. "What do you want?"

"What happened to your buddy? Finally got bored of you and ditched you, huh?" the cat purred, picking at his fangs.

"He had somewhere else to be."

"Yeah, sniffing around that stunning vixen the last I checked." The stoat chirped. "Mammals notice things, you know."

"What difference does it make?"

"Well," said the cat, prowling forward, circling her slowly. She held her breath, hoping against hope that he couldn't smell the fear beneath her skin. He prodded her in the back was a claw, causing her to gasp and jump away. "He left you here, alone and unprotected, off duty, in the dark."

"I'm still an Officer." She warned coldly. "I wouldn't try to threaten me if I were you."

"How sweet, you almost sound brave." The stoat chuckled. "Lucky for you were not trying to threaten you."

"Then what _are_ you trying to do?"

The pair looked at one another, smirking and eyes untrustworthy. She could have run there and then, but flight wasn't her game. She'd joined the police for a reason, and to run from trouble was like running from the job. Besides, she was curious as to why they had approached her in the first place, particularly now.

"You're working on the attacks on prey, are you not?" the cat asked, tapping his chin thoughtfully. Automatically Judy's ears pricked forward, alert and eagerly listening. A part of her wondered how they knew about that, but the other was just grateful that this was a first lead despite not voluntarily finding it. Maybe this was where she was about to start-

"What do you know?" she shook her head. "Wait, what are your names?"

"Leo Felinton." Said the cat, gesturing proudly to himself.

"Chad Ermin." Chuckled the stoat.

"Now tell me what you know."

"I don't think so." Said Chad, nibbling his nails in amusement, circling the rabbit with mocking eyes. He poked and prodded her, clearly trying to get a reaction out of her. When he pulled on her ears, she shot back and crouched, ready to make a break for it if she had to.

"If you're just going to waste my time, I'd leave now." She threatened, not that it was a strong threat. She was no match against two predators on her own. She couldn't make an arrest because she had no ground to stand on. The only thing keeping her here was the possibility of gathering information. They _had_ to know something!

The cat smiled. "Find the red squirrel, he can help you."

"What red squirrel?" she demanded.

"Now that would be ruining the game if we told you more than that, darling." Chad said, tickling her chin disrespectfully. "I'll tell you one thing though, fluff; watch your back."

"Is that a threat?!"

"It was a threat, but not directly from us. Think of it as a warning."

Suddenly, happening so quickly she didn't have time to look up, she heard the sound of something falling through the air directly above her. She couldn't even work up enough strength in her legs in time to react, for everything had gone dark. She was knocked off her feet, breathless and horribly startled to the point she was convinced her heart was in her mouth. She struggled, desperate to be free of the musky brown sack that now contained her, and after a few violent thrashes she was free, her eyes wide and fighting through the darkness.

But she was alone, predators no longer in sight.

* * *

The following morning, after a brief sleep that had her running through corridors filled with questions yet no one to answer then, she was on her laptop at a time that not even the nocturnal animals had retreated to bed yet. She searched anything relating to the red squirrel that may have been referred to, but for a while she found nothing. She scrolled and scrolled and scrolled, hoping to find something deep on the confinements of Zoogle's search engine, but it wasn't until she hit page twenty four that she had finally found something that may have been of interest.

Peter Bush, a red squirrel who had the scars of a brutal attack but had remained silent. He'd been transported to hospital eighteen months earlier after being found in a gutter near his home, unconscious and unresponsive. Police had asked him time and time again what had happened, but the fear he had felt from the experience had kept him silent.

Now, from the information she had gathered, he was left blind in one eye and so frightened to the point that no one had been in contact with him since his attack.

She hastily grabbed her phone, which highlighted a text from Nick.

 _I'm sorry about tonight, Carrots. I'll make it up to you, promise._

She rolled her eyes and rang him, hoping that she could keep her annoyance out of her voice once he answered. She wasn't in the mood; they had far more important matters.

" _Carrots, this is way before your wake up call, is everything alright?_ " he sounded incredibly awake, which was no surprise due to being nocturnal. Nick didn't sleep much, and when he did it was for a whole day or nap over the course of three days. His sleeping patterns were irregular, yet he never seemed phased. He was never tired, never unfocussed, and never late to work in the morning from over sleeping.

"I got a lead."

" _What? How? When?_ "

"I'll explain later, meet me outside the station in twenty."

" _You got it._ "

They hung up, and Judy made a mental note of looking up that cat and stoat at a later date. But for now she was happy with what she had. A lead.

* * *

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	7. Bush

**Wow! All these favourites, follows and reviews are amazing, thank you guys! Here's a longer chapter for you, but I apologise for the ending (a little bit cliffy)! I won't update now until tomorrow so I hope you all enjoy!**

* * *

"So… how did you get this information, Carrots?" Nick asked as he watched the rabbit pace back and forth, having been put on hold on the phone while Officer Benjamin Clawhauser looked up the location of her witness. Nick was perched on the bonnet of their cruiser, an eyebrow raised in question, but Judy didn't answer him. His snout in his paw, he waited patiently.

She looked on edge. He could smell the agitation on her, her scent flaring more than usual due to the puffy fur on her neck, now standing on end. The intense smell of carrots, blueberries and that peculiar bunny smell irritated his nose, intoxicating and distracting. His mouth watered for blueberries, but his stomach churned at the idea of carrots. As for her own individual scent, she usual smelt like the blossoming daisies on a spring day, almost a warm, pleasant smell, but that had shifted with her mood; currently, he smelled the same as daises, yet with a sour edge that hurt his nose.

"You got it?" she suddenly beamed, jumping up and down like it was her birthday. "Oh, thank you, Ben, you're amazing!" she hung up, and a second later her phone dinged with a text message, which was no doubt the location they were about to travel to.

" _Now_ do I get answers?" Nick demanded, hopping off the bonnet. He walked around the car, jumping in at the same time as Judy.

"A cat and a stoat helped me."

There was a pause. "Excuse me, but _what?_ " he stared at her, dumbfounded. "Are you _insane?_ "

"Well, they approached me and said they knew I was working on the case, and they couldn't come to me sooner because they knew you wouldn't stand for it-"

"Of course I wouldn't stand for it! I've had experiences with cats, them things of nasty! And stoats? Why, they're no better than Weaselton!" he snapped. "You should have called me."

"And that, my friend, was my problem; I knew you wouldn't answer even if I tried." She snapped back, briefly breaking eye contact from the road as she drove. And then she stared ahead, her eyes hard and unrelenting, as well as exhausted. He gaped at her, open mouthed, trying to process what she was saying.

"Is this about Ffion?" he asked after a silent moment. "Is this about not walking you home? I said I was sorry."

"Don't flatter yourself." She mumbled. "You can see who you want, when you want. I'm just saying that I knew you would have been too busy to answer the phone."

He hated himself for knowing that this was true. Last night he hadn't even glimpsed at his phone once, and it was on silent the entire time he sat with Ffion. In truth, it was refreshing to be with someone like himself, the same species with the same way of thinking. She'd grown into a majestic creature, sure of herself, knowing exactly what she wanted and when. He couldn't deny that he was fascinated listening to her, and enjoyed bragging about his own past experiences. He hadn't felt like kind of belonging in a while. Of course, Judy and the force made him feel at home, safe and wanted, but this was different. The smell of another fox, the voice of one so like his own in terms of speaking, was another type of home.

He turned away, annoyed with himself as he stared out of the window. "Where are we going?"

"The other side of Zootopia, just beyond the city. There's a squirrel who lives there, and he was attacked eighteen months ago. The characteristics are the same as the other eight, but he got so frightened he got placed under police protection and relocated, or at least that's what Ben told me. No one knows where he is other than police departments. His name is Peter Bush."

"And your little friends told you all this?" he asked sarcastically, glaring at her. She glared back at him.

"No, they just told me to find the squirrel. I did the rest."

Dear god he hated cats. They were not nice creatures, even with the integration of predator and prey. Cats hated every animal on the planet that wasn't the same species as them, and rabbits, among mice and rats and any other rodent you could think of, were their prime targets. Not so much for hunting, of course, but for harassing and hustling; worse than foxes, believe it or not.

He remembered an encounter with a cat, in his early days as a criminal. He'd been smooth talking his way into getting a young leopard to give him some money to get food for his children, who of course didn't exist. At the time he'd been dressed in rags, portraying the image of a homeless animal, with scraggy fur and unbelievably sad eyes.

The leopard had just been about to hand him over the cash he craved, when all of a sudden it was lashed out of the leopard's paw. The cat, a white one with harsh green eyes, then proceeded to knock Nick to the ground forcefully enough to knock the breath out of him and hurt his head. Mind spinning and eyes seeing stars, he vaguely remembered seeing his own victim chasing angrily after the cat, never to be seen again and an opportunity lost.

" _And that, foxy, is why we hate cats._ " He remembered a voice saying. He remembered looking up, seeing a small figure in front of him with pale fur and huge ears. The grin was an undeniably mocking one, eyes swimming with amusement. " _However, I could use you. How do you feel about popsicles?"_

That was the day he learned to be wary of cats, as well as meeting the infamous Finnick.

He almost looked back on the memory fondly before reality kicked in. How could she be so foolish? The idea of any kind of animal hurting her, let alone two other main enemies of rabbits corning her, made him feel physically sick. A stoat was a little smaller, easier to run from, but cats were not so avoidable.

"Please don't do that again." He muttered in annoyance.

"If they come to help me again, then I make no promises."

"You're being stupid."

"I'm doing my _job._ "

He looked at her. "Fine, but if you get a mark on your other cheek to match the first, don't come crying to me."

He was fibbing of course. Should that happen, he would be the first on the case to deliver a harsher blow. Unlike bigger predators, cats were more approachable to him. He'd had confrontations with those before, merely because he was bigger and more frightening out of the two. He would be more than happy to deal with a stoat and cat should it come to it.

"I can take care of myself." She said, still looking angry.

"Right." He responded stiffly. After another moment he sighed, feeling defeated. "You'll be the end of me, Carrots."

She seemed to relax a little at the use of her nickname he'd christened her with. "Gotta' keep you on your toes, right?"

He shook his head, suddenly feeling tired. She kept him on his toes, all right, and worried him to death. Not that he would ever admit that.

* * *

When they arrived forty minutes later, Nick gaped. They were met by an old, almost rotting tree, so tall he had to crane his neck to see. At the top was an equally worn looking house, maybe a bit small for him to fit but not impossible to try. The ladder that led up to the house made him cringe, the wood rotting slowly, and he doubted it would hold his weight for long. He looked down at Judy, who now suddenly looked a little unnerved.

"I think you should go first." Nick said, looking up again. "I'm not sure if the ladder will stay intact if we go at the same time."

"Good idea."

He watched nervously as Judy climbed, praying that the wood would stay strong for her. However he was braced for her fall, ready to catch her should he need to.

Relief spread through him when she made it to the top, quietly giving him thumbs up. Carefully, he began to climb, holding his breath as he did. He tested each step, checking its strength, and while the ladder struggled to hold him, he managed to get to the top and join his waiting partner. He was stiff with nerves, amazing how he had made it. He looked down, his heart in his mouth, his ears flat against his head.

"You're okay." Judy assured him, proceeding to knock on the old, not so attractive door. There was no answer. "Hello? This is ZPD, we're here to ask a few questions."

" _Go away!"_ a voice cried from within, startling the pair. Judy leaned against the door, pressing a long ear to the wood.

"Please, Mr Bush, we need your help." She pleaded. "I know what happened to you, I'm not stirring. Others are getting hurt and only you can help me at this moment in time. Please, let us in."

"That fox is not coming in."

There was a pause, and the order hit Nick in the gut. Judy looked a little hopeless for a moment. "He's on your side, he wont hurt you."

"He's a _hunter._ "

"He's not like _them_." She pressed. "He's not like those that hurt you. Please, trust me."

There was movement, and the door finally creaked open. Inside, Peter was wide eyed, the white around his brown orb bloodshot from fright and lack of sleep. The other eye was wedged shut, never to see again. His left ear was gnawed down to the scalp, and his tail wasn't in much better shape. His red fur looked old, worn, and no longer in a groomed state like the squirrels in Zootopia. He was dressed in thick clothing, covering his arms and legs, no doubt hiding his other scars. Nick had never felt so much pity for such a creature.

"You promise?" he asked, his voice low and small, eyeing Nick in distrust.

"You have my word, sir." Nick promised.

Finally, the rodent let them inside. It was a tight fit, but Nick managed to squeeze through. Inside was vast, filled with nothing but a couch, a take with food from the previous night on it, and a room in the back to probably led to the bedroom and bathroom. There was no TV, no phone, devoid of electronic devises. He really did want to stay hidden from the world.

Peter flopped himself in his couch, utterly exhausted.

"Mr Bush?" Judy murmured gently, edging forward. Peter looked at her with his on good eye.

"What do you want to know?" was all he said.

"Everything." Nick replied. "What you saw, heard and smelled, and when and where. Tell us everything you know."

Peter sighed, and after a long moment, he began to speak.

* * *

 **Please let me know what you thought, and I apologise for any mistakes :)**


	8. Peter's Story

**70+ follows, guys, thats amazing! Thank you all so much! :D**

* * *

Peter Bush remembered the night all to clearly.

He remembered what time he had come home from work, he remembered the sweet taste of his wife's kiss and the warmth of his children's hugs. He could even remember the supper his wife had prepared for him that night, and the stories his children told him from their day.

Oh, how he missed his lovely wife, Mel. She had been the light of his dark days. When they'd met as mere teenagers, he was smitten within a week of knowing her. Smooth talking, beautiful, huge luscious green eyes that saw every crack, every uncertainty, only for her smile to warm his soul and console him without a word ever being said. His missed her eyes, her smile, her quiet "I love you," before they went to sleep.

Oh, and his children, the nutty trio. Zach, Poppy and Roy, born a minute apart from one another. They had been his most precious creations, his reasoning for working as hard as he did. They had been so different yet so alike: Zach, with his devious grin, Poppy with her sweet, innocent eyes, and Roy with his sarcastic tongue. Together they were the terror trio, causing havoc among the other kids, yet loved for their humour and playfulness.

But all that was gone now, all because of that night. He had to protect them, and to do that he had to run away and never be found.

He remembered the usual routine, kissing his wife goodnight before he rolled over into a sound sleep. Nothing had felt wrong. The house had felt as safe as ever, positively secure. He remembered hearing the little breaths of his children in the other room, sleeping peacefully, the distinct snore of Roy making him smile before he himself drifted. Everything had felt so right, so normal.

 _"Papa! Mama, Papa!"_

The terror of his children's cries had him bolting upright alongside his wife, eyes wide and disorientated.

 _"Mama!"_

 _"Poppy?"_ Mel had screamed, leaping from the bed and dashing for the door.

" _Help us, please help us!"_

He remembered running but not seeing where he was going, letting his ears guide him. He caught a glimpse of his wife's bushy red tail turning a corner and disappearing into the other room, where his children screamed for their parents.

They found them out of their beds, hugging one another, all three of their hearts beating a thousand miles an hour in their chests. They looked like they had seen a monster beyond their imaginations. Roy, the smallest, was shaking violently and his fur was standing on end beneath his pyjamas, while his daughter hid her face in Zach's side, sobbing uncontrollably.

"Babies, what happened?" their mother cooed, running towards them to gather them in her arms. They said nothing, but he would never forget the look on Roy's face as he stared over Mel's shoulder and beyond Peter himself. Never would he forget that horror in his eyes, the quivering of his lower lip, and the slight rise of his paw to point out the danger.

Peter never had a second to react before something grabbed his right ankle, yanking him off his feet before dragging him ferociously from the room. He screamed, hitting his head hard on the ground forcefully enough to make him dizzy, the oak of the wooden floorboards strong in his nostrils. He reached for his wife, who shrieked as she lunged for him, but there was no catching him.

He remembered his stomach rising into his throat and choking him when he was no longer on the ground, for gravity was now rushing him to the earth below from his home in the tree.

The blow was a mind numbing one, momentarily knocking him unconscious while every bone in his body felt as if they had snapped. He came to after a few seconds, his face in the grass as he was dragged through the dirt, barely hearing the petrified screams of his family from above.

He didn't know how long her was dragged for, but it felt like an eternity. At last he was flipped onto his back, staring up into the night sky, crystal clear with the stars twinkling beautifully. He was oddly at peace for that brief moment before his vision blurred. He groaned, the pain suddenly everywhere, so much so that it hurt to even breathe.

A shadowed figure loomed above him, but he couldn't make out a face.

" _There may be more prey in this world, but you will_ never _be better than predators. I'd tell you to run, but…"_ the female voice paused, and the grin was evident. " _Well, I think we both know you're not going anywhere."_

" _M-my family…"_

 _"Will live."_ The attacker finished for him, and she then laughed. The next thing he knew, he felt an unbearable pain in his left eye, before he was consumed into darkness.

* * *

Peter looked at the officers in his current home, shaking from reliving the events. He was surprised to see that the fox appeared to be shaken, his paws wedged between his knees from where he sat in Peter's old armchair (which looked awfully uncomfortable, considering he barely fit in it). The rabbit, however, was furiously taking notes on the other end of the couch, biting her lip in concentration as she tried to get as much down as possible.

What a peculiar pair. He had heard of the infamous rabbit and fox who roamed the city of Zootopia, how could he not? The first rabbit officer, followed by some months later the first fox. But he never really thought it to be true, and yet here they were, in his safe house, Nicolas Wilde and Judy Hopps.

As he stared through his good eye, he sensed a tension between them. It was strange. It wasn't the tension like that he sometimes shared with Mel during an argument, nor the tension of not wanting to work together because of how different they were. It was an uncertainty, the unknown of the case they were facing sparking a void between them. He could see the anxious glances the fox shot at the rabbit across from him, as if trying to get her attention yet being rudely ignored. He couldn't fathom it. Never had he seen a fox, so cunning and sly, show signs of worry for the one animal he should have naturally seen as an enemy. It was curious, if not almost endearing.

"That's all I can remember. The next thing I knew I was waking up in a ditch to some paramedics." He finished his story, watching the pair carefully. Officer Hopps lifted her head from her pad, her violet eyes big and sympathetic.

"I'm sorry that this happened to you, Mr Bush." She murmured.

"Please, call me Peter." He said, looking down at his feet. He let the cold of the memory wash over him before shaking it off, finally able to lock it all away again.

"Peter," Hopps confirmed, mostly to herself. "Can I ask, do you know where your family is? Are they alright?"

Peter shrugged sadly.

"Maybe we could find them, tell them you're alright-"

" _They can't know."_ Peter practically hissed at her, making her jump in surprise. Her ears flopped, her face somewhat hurt.

"Don't you want to see them again?" Wilde interrupted, frowning in confusion.

"They _can't_ know I'm okay, I have to keep them safe." Peter rushed. "If I go back a-and whoever attacked me found out that I returned… I couldn't protect them the first time, I refuse to put them through that again."

Hopps nibbled the tip of her pen for a moment. "What about if we found them, but didn't speak to them?"

"What do you mean?"

"Check up on them to tell you how they're getting on." She clarified. "You must miss them so much; I know id miss my family if I hadn't seen them for over a year." She leaned forward, her arms folded loosely on her lap. "It might offer you a little bit of closure."

There was a long silence, and Peter felt that dreaded lump of emotion in his throat, choking him momentarily. He tried to force it down, but there was no escaping the tears that rose to his eyes, silencing him in an instant. Instead he simply dropping his head and nodded stiffly, succumbed by emotion that plagued him daily.

"Forgive me." He sobbed.

"There's nothing to forgive." Wilde murmured. They all sat in taciturnity, the officers letting Peter cry without interruption.

* * *

As the officers were about to leave some time later, Peter thanked them for their kindness and patience. He then proceeded to offer Hopps a paw as she lowered herself carefully onto the ladder, slowly working her way down. When she was on the ground, he waited for her to stride towards their cruiser before he drew his attention to Wilde, who was now in the process of awkwardly lowering himself onto the ladder.

"You keep an eye on that friend of yours, officer." Peter said before he could stop himself. Wilde looked up, confused by his statement.

"I'm sorry?"

"Like me, she is prey." Peter explained. "If whoever is behind these attacks gets whiff of her being on the case, I don't know if she'll end up any better than I did. She's a target, Wilde, and I worry for her safety."

There was a brief silence, Wilde frowning to himself. "You and me both, Peter, that I can assure you."

Wilde descended without another word, and Peter shrunk back into his safe house without a glance back.

* * *

 **Thank you for reading, let me know what you thought :)**


	9. Conflict

**Sorry for not updating yesterday guys, got insanely busy :') Hope you all enjoy this chapter, its the longest one I've done so far:) thank you again for all the follows, favourites and reviews, keep em' coming you lovely people!**

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The following day, Judy was walking to the office, alone and completely minding her own business. She was scribbling some notes down with her favourite carrot pen, nibbling it in concentration every now and then while she plotted her next move. Nick had gone to do some research on animal attacks that had happened many, many years before, in an attempt to specify what kind of species was responsible and see if there were any explicit characteristics to help them find the culprits. They could have been dealing with anything from a fox like Finnick to a jaguar with a thirst for blood.

Before she could react, something hit the front of Judy's ankle, sending her flying. Her notes scattered ahead of her, hitting the ground is a whish of paper and the hard clatter of her pen, while she herself let out a cry of surprise before she winced in pain. She half expected it to be Nick sneaking up on her, but his playfulness was never quite so cruel these days.

As she struggled to her knees, trying to gather her thoughts back together, she was met by an exaggerated gasp of surprise.

"Oh my, I am _so_ sorry, Flopps!" Ffion cried in mock apology. Judy looked behind her and glared furiously, at both the fake apology and the incorrect pronouncement of her name.

"It's _Hopps_." She snapped, brushing herself off.

The vixen looked at her thoughtfully, teasing her fang with a long, pampered claw. She was dressed in simple pale jeans and a cream blouse, and her yellow eyes looked Judy up and down in her officer uniform. It was unnerving, like being sized up by a snake, but Judy stood her ground stubbornly.

"My bad," Ffion said in relation to her name, smirking mockingly.

"If you'll excuse me, I'm busy." Judy replied, gathering her notes, which she noticed Ffion had no interest in helping with. Having collected both herself and her work the rabbit stormed off, all too aware of Ffion following her.

"I was wondering if you could tell me where Nick was?" she said, sounding pleasant yet she had a teasing undertone in her voice. Judy rolled her eyes.

"He's _also_ busy."

"You're very rude for a bunny; did he teach you that?" she said, remaining behind her and out of view. Judy refused to look back but kept out a sharp ear, weaving between fellow citizens of the city and crossing roads hastily, almost hoping she could shake off her unwanted company. "He really was the rude kind when we were young."

"A shame," Judy replied, "because you appear to have picked up that trait and kept it with you."

It was incredibly faint, but Judy heard the snarl rumble in Ffion's throat behind her, making her fur stand on end. "Watch your tongue, Whiskers."

Judy flipped herself around; proceeding to walk backwards while letting her ears guide her. The vixen was glaring furiously, clearing not liking being spoken down to by a rabbit such as herself. Judy mimicked the smirk she had received earlier, irately not in the mood for predator insults and mocking playfulness today. She had far more important things to be thinking about that a dumb vixen that had made her feelings clear, and she was not going to let her intimidate her now or ever, especially if she insisted on being a part of Nick's life. She wanted to be mean? Judy would be nasty.

She pointed the tip of her pen at the vixen. "Firstly, call me any nickname under the sun, sweetheart, but I've heard every single one; it wont make a difference in how I feel. Secondly, I know you don't like me, and even better, _I don't care_. Three, if you try and intimidate me one more time I'll have you reported for harassment."

"Intimidate?" Ffion said in mock upset, placing a paw on her chest as if she had been hurt. "I never had intention to intimidate you."

"You're talking to a rabbit." Judy said in annoyance. "If you think I didn't hear you snarl, you're dumber than you look."

The pair stopped, now glaring at one another wrathfully on the side of the road. The tension was so thick you would struggle to even cut it with a knife. The smell of sour fruit was strong, unrelenting, making Judy feel violated. She froze for the briefest of seconds, thinking back to the night Ffion had made herself known, and how she had smelled the same scent that night when she had gotten home. She eyed Ffion suspiciously, but said nothing.

"Careful, bunny, or we're going to have a problem." Ffion warned, almost baring her teeth at her.

"We already do, _vixen,_ but I'm not interested in a conflict." Judy retorted without missing a beat. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm incredibly busy. Why don't you go and bully a rabbit that cares, huh? You're talking to the wrong gal."

Judy wasn't afraid. Maybe that would get her into trouble; maybe it would save her life. She couldn't tell. She'd dealt with foxes who thought they were better than her before (first Gideon, then Nick) so why should this be any different? Ffion was just an outsider who was trying to fit in by making herself look big against those who were small. Judy had been there before. She had no intention on being pushed down again, not when she had come this far. She knew she was more than that.

"Oh!" Judy cried, lifting a paw up in declaration to Ffion. "Word of advice. If you insist on getting close to a potential mate, it's best to earn the friendship of their best friend. Just a thought." And with that the rabbit went on her way, marching in triumph whilst she blatantly ignored the daggers being sent into her back from Ffion's vengeful eyes.

* * *

" _Nick_!"

Nick started, lifting up his head from the books he had to hand.

 _The History of Predators and their Prey: Never to Resurface._ That was the title of the book aiding his research. It was a brutal reminder of the Animal history, where predators used to hunt and kill rather than work and play with prey. In truth, it wasn't his favourite topic. Seeing the harsh, historically accurate illustrations of a cheetah attacking and killing a gazelle was enough to make his stomach churn. It was far from a happy topic, even for a predator like himself.

He was in the city library, alone and nursing a coffee that was truthfully too bitter for his taste. He was staring but not focussing on a panther with its jaws locked around the neck of a warthog, a murderous blow. The book was about the times before evolution, back when animals were still on all fours and unable to speak, as well as wearing no clothes whatsoever. He would have smirked if Judy were there, for she wouldn't have dared to look at the images purely for the nakedness.

When he looked up, it was Ffion striding towards him, her face none to happy. In fact she looked positively furious, and for a second Nick raced through all of the things he could have possibly done wrong to upset her. It was like her raging yellow eyes were boring into him, drilling holes with her anger.

"What's wrong?" he asked, carefully closing the book in front of him.

"You need to keep that little rabbit of yours under control."

"Carrots?" he asked, confused. What on earth had she done? "What happened?"

"Just because she's a cop does not mean she has the right to call me _dumb._ "

Nick couldn't help but feel amused. He touched his chin thoughtfully, raising a brow. "She said that? You must have upset her."

"I _accidentally_ tripped her up."

"Carrots can be a little angry if she's focussed or having a bad day." He waved her off. "Don't take it personally."

The dumbfounded expression on Ffion's face was almost priceless. Her jaw hung open, like she couldn't comprehend what he had just said, or that he was making no effort to support her side of the story. He stared at her lazily, smiling uncontrollably as he watched the many emotions cross her face, from and surprise and shock, to mild annoyance, to finally embarrassment. There was something a little off about her, though, almost like the expressions weren't true, though he had a feeling that tiredness was weighing him down. This was his second day without sleep, which meant tomorrow was an entire day of sleeping. He couldn't wait; anything to make his head stop hurting and keep his eyes from playing tricks on him.

"You even have a pet name for her," Ffion rolled her eyes, finally settling in the seat opposite him. "I never thought I'd see the day where you mingled with prey. She even called you her best friend."

He didn't even blink. "Well, we are, to put it bluntly."

Ffion's eyed widened. "I thought you were just work partners?"

"I pretended to try and eat her for the sake of a case, a case I didn't even want to be involved in and would have rather continue living the life of hustling in popsicles. A few months later I became a cop instead. What does that tell you?"

"You should have eaten her tongue." She muttered angrily. Nick pretended he hadn't heard her say that.

"What can I help you with today, then, Ffion?"

"I wanted to see you." She replied, batting her lashes at him. "The other night was fun, and when you weren't answering your phone and your little _friend_ wouldn't tell me where you were, I went to the basics. I remembered how much you liked books, and, well…"

"So you were stalking me." he finished for her, grinning.

"If you insist on putting it bluntly, then yes, yes I was." She looked down at her paws, evidently feeling nervous and embarrassed. He found it almost flattering, and chuckled at her delightfully.

"Give me half an hour and I take you for some lunch." He said, leaning back in his chair and stretching his arms above his head, pulling every muscle in his back and arms for an incredibly satisfying and well-needed sensation. "I need a break anyway."

"What are you doing?" she asked curiously, gazing at the book in front of him on the table. He had the sudden impulse to shield her eyes, but not for her own protection. He felt conflicted, knowing that he shouldn't really tell her what he was up to, yet what would the harm be in doing so? He didn't have to tell her _everything._ He could give her clues, an idea, something to keep her interested in his daily activities. Frankly, he wanted to keep her around for a while.

He remembered the fun he had had with her as kits. The year he'd spent with her had involved getting into so much trouble that he slowly learned how to defy the law. Of course back then he refused to let anything get to him, so mimicking her was what he knew. Picking on the young, the weak, the _prey,_ had been his way of getting through life and forgetting his ordeal three years earlier. He had to make himself look big and brave, and Ffion had been his key in doing so. She'd made him feel worthy again, like someone wanted to be his friend. He wasn't prepared to lose that feeling again, among the other emotions she brought along with her here, now.

Beautiful, cunning: a creature beyond comfortable in her own skin. There was nothing else in the world more attractive than that.

"Just some research on a case," he said, staring goofily at her, his chin in his paw. Her ears pricked forward with inquisitiveness, those beautiful eyes scanning the title. She repeated it back to him, but he barely heard her, and simply nodded.

"Why are you researching that?" she asked, attempting to grab the book.

Finally, Nick was yanked out of his reverie with a gasp. He snatched the book back before she could get a hold of it, his eyes wide in his own surprise. No. No, she couldn't know anything. It was a confidential case. Bogo would never let him work on a case like this again if information slipped. He didn't even want him working on this one!

No. Ffion was staying, but not under the jeopardy of his job. He'd have to find other ways to keep her interest.

Instead he worked a sly grin onto his mouth, tucking the book under the table and lodged between his knees. "How about that bite to eat?"

He didn't miss the annoyed look she provided, her eyes flicking in the direction in which he hid the book, before she nodded reluctantly. He stood, gesturing for her to lead the way. While her back was turned, he hastily shoved the book into the hands of a passing librarian, who so happened to be a giraffe with the nametag identifying him as Mark.

"Put this on the highest shelf you can find, and do not rent it out to anyone." Nick ordered hastily.

Mark looked confused but nodded, watching the fox run after the vixen with the shake of his head, and went on his way.

* * *

 **Let me know what you guys think, thank you for reading :)**


	10. Priorities

**All of you guys reading this are amazing, thank you so much, and since you've had to wait a little for this chapter i've mate it slightly longer :)**

* * *

Judy hadn't been expecting anything out of the norm to happen that evening. She had tried to call Nick numerous times to check up on his findings, which they had organised to do, but to no avail, and a part of her had settled on the fact that Ffion must have found him, and was now gallivanting around with her doing who knew what. Having accepted this fact, she was taking the quiet walk home with her earphones lodged in her ears, running over the paperwork that would soon stack up in relation to this case, and whether it was worth just carrying on alone.

Nick wasn't in the game like he had been previously. She knew he was all over the place, his natural instincts conflicting with his sense of moral. She couldn't attack him for something he would never be able to help. All animals would be lying if they said they had urges, senses and cravings beyond their control, and to deny them was just foolish. Deep down, all prey and all predator alike had at least one instinct, whether it be to fear something with fangs designed for killing or if it was the sudden need to chase something that was built for running away.

She thought back, back to when she was a kitten still hiding behind her mother. She was always seen as the nervous one back then, only four or five in age. Her overly large ears had her on edge all of the time, flicking this way and that to the slightest of sounds. Stu Hopps always praised her for such large ears, promising that they would always keep her out of trouble. Bonnie Hopps, however, found them to be a nuisance when trying to find a hat that would fit her, yet also found them to be a strong indicator to when Judy was happy or sad.

Of course, Judy wasn't the only rabbit out there with large ears, but she was indeed one of the few that still used them to their greatest potential.

She remembered one summer's afternoon, she and her mother picking blueberries together whilst the sun shone pleasantly on their backs. Bonnie always taught her which berries were the juiciest, the better sellers, and the ones that needed to be picked to be thrown away, just to make room for more to grow. Often Judy was scolded fondly for eating them, throwing them high in the air to catch effortlessly in her mouth.

But soon she froze, but Bonnie had only rolled her eyes. "Judy, you must stop taking every sound for a sign of danger, or you will always be afraid."

Judy wasn't listening. Nostrils flaring, one ear forward and the other angled to the side, she listened to the sound of the grass flattening beneath the weight of something, the single vines of green pressing and crunching together. She could sense that whoever was making the sound was trying to be careful, stealthy; all the more reason to be suspicious.

She lowered herself into a hunched position, ignoring the continuous scolding of her mother. She listened and she listened, pinpointing the location of the sound.

One second went by, then two, and then it was five seconds of careful, controlled footsteps condensing the grass into the earth beneath her feet.

And then she grinned.

Bounding out of the way, her three slightly older siblings came shooting from the bushes and ploughing into their mother, knocking her completely off her feet. Her basket of berries went shooting into the air, some of its contents threatening to escape its confinements. In the same moment it took for the cry of surprise from Bonnie, to the uproar of laughter from all around, Judy had leapt and caught the basket safely, not one berry on the ground. She too was laughing, having once again outsmarted her siblings' attempt at frightening her.

"We're no match for her ears!" her brother had yelled in both amusement and annoyance.

"All the more to keep her out of trouble!" her father had called, responding to the commotion and arriving to investigate. Judy had grinning smugly, and then the memory faded.

She had grown out of using the sensitiveness of her hearing to her advantage. It was a not a necessity in this day and age. It was just the perk of being a rabbit, simply there for when natural instinct really did need to kick in. She never thought that, after all this time, she would be using them to guide her into trouble rather than away.

But, not long after the sun had gone down and the shadows engulfed the city, a noise broke through the gentle rhythm flowing from one ear to the other.

A growl to be precise.

It rumbled through the ground, into her feet, within her bones before echoing into her eardrums, momentarily blocking out her music. She pulled an earphone free, stopping dead in her tracks. All rushing, nagging thoughts of the case left her, and instead she felt the tightening of her chest as her heart began to beat at an alarming rate. Her blood ran cold, making her shiver, and suddenly she felt very, awfully alone.

No one was around. Everyone had gone home.

She stopped the music, shoved her phone into her pocket along with the earphones, and put her ears to good use. She stood legs and arms away from her body, listening and feeling for the animal that dared to snarl under their breath. She felt every little vibration beneath her feet, could smell the presence of another, but she heard nothing. Dead silence. That was worse than deafening sound of a crowd in a concert.

She didn't dare to breathe.

Suddenly, so sudden in fact that she leapt out of her stance in a fright, three children came laughing and yelling from the shadows. They ran into the street a block down from her, squabbling over a packet of sweets while laughing about something. They were no older than thirteen. A tiger cub, a moose calf and a young otter were yelling and playing, looking completely at ease, but nothing about this situation was okay. That growl hadn't come from any of the youngsters.

She edged forward, reaching out to them. "Guys? I think maybe you should get home." She called to them. They looked at her with confused expressions, the young tiger holding the packet of sweets high above his head, out of the otter's reach.

"Are we in trouble?" the calf asked shyly, his expression worried. Judy looked around nervously as she walked towards them, shaking her head in doing so.

"Just do as I say." She told them. They did. The moved on, rushing across the road and into the gloom on the opposite side. Judy went to follow them, glancing behind her as she did.

The screaming started not a second later, so loud it almost deafened Judy. But she didn't waste any time. She sprang, dashing in the direction of the youngsters, calling out to them in a panic.

There was the crash of a bin hitting the ground, and an awful roar then swallowed up the screaming. Judy ran as fast as her legs would allow her, desperate to reach the kids. She fought the desperate urge to turn and flee, ignoring the panicked beating of her heart ramming into her chest bone. When one of them began crying for their mother in a desperate plea, Judy ran like she never had done before.

She jumped, effortlessly dodging the fallen bin. She ran down the back streets blindly, bouncing off the walls to leap smoothly around a corner to save a mere few seconds of precious time.

Left, right, left, left, right.

" _Help!"_

They'd split up; their scent had divided. The otter had diverted right, but his scent was plagued by the smell of wet, black coal. Powerful paws slammed against the ground, claws slashing into the concrete cleanly, whilst the otter made next to no sound at all.

Judy had no choice but to cut him off.

She raced through the darkened streets, rushing ahead of the smells that ferociously attacked her nose. She could smell the fear and the panic, sickeningly thick and suffocating, of course hard to miss. She kept ahead of it as much as she could until she could find a safe place to grab the otter to safety, preferably from above.

A good twenty seconds ahead of the otter and his unknown chaser, Judy scampered onto some scaffolding at the side of a tall, blacked-out building. She hung from a metal ladder, panting and afraid yet all the more determined to seek her chance. She heard the pounding steps come closer, savage and hasty.

Ten, nine, eight…

She reached out an arm, ready to catch the pup who would come flying around the corner any second. She listened as his scurrying got closer, louder, his cries for help ear splitting. Judy tensed her body, awaiting the impact.

The pup slammed into her arm so hard it knocked her breath away, yet she wasted no time in lifting him off the ground before scurrying up the ladder with him over her shoulder. He shrieked for a second longer before he silenced himself forcefully, knowing that he was now in safe hands.

There was a huge crash down below; another bin, probably flipped over in a savage fit of fury. Judy climbed to the roof of the scaffolding, a good five to six stories up, before she set the pup back on his feet. He cried, or even sobbed, as he wrapped his arms around her middle, soaking the bottom of her uniform. She gently soothed him through painful pants, still listening out for danger.

She clung to the pup when there was a final roar of rage, before the unknown perpetrator, with his black scent and angry steps, disappeared into the ever-growing night.

* * *

An hour later, several other officers had arrived at the scene. They had found the other two youngsters below the ground in a drain, scared out of their wits and refusing to come out until their parents were called. The otter pup had refused to leave Judy's side until his parents came to collect him, and even then he couldn't stop the many words of thanks leaving his mouth. She had promised him that he was now safe, and that she would capture who ever it was who tried to hurt him. His family were forever grateful for her efforts.

It was as she turned to her chief that Nick came rushing towards the scene. She blatantly ignored him, and because he was in his casual clothes without his badge, he wasn't allowed past the tape that concealed the area that Judy and the children had been in danger. To further fuel her irritation, he had Ffion by his side. What it just her, of was that vixen _smirking?_ She turned away before she could come to a conclusion, to furious to even try and care.

She half expected Chief Bogo to scold her for her selflessness, but in actual fact he applauded her for her bravery. He took her witness statement, writing down every detail, before informing her that he would retrieve the statements from the kids once they were fit to talk.

The best she could offer was the sounds of the perpetrator. She described the roar, a sound that had began deep in the gut before rising and building to the throat, profound and thunderous. To match her earlier identification, claws had indeed damaged the ground, white marks scattered in all sorts of places. She could remember the power behind the claws, feel the aggressiveness, and she couldn't help but shiver.

"Take tomorrow off, Hopps." Chief Bogo ordered after flipping his pad shut. He was both sympathetic and infuriated: the first because one of his officers had been forced into the line of danger, and second because they had no suspects. Judy wanted to feel guilty for having not even tried to see who it was threatening the children, but then again the otter pup had been her main priority.

"Yes, sir." she said without argument, though she failed to say she would continue to research and trace back to what she already knew. There had to be a connection. Perhaps some time alone in her flat would help.

She began to leave the scene, exhaustion hitting her in a wave. She felt dizzy, her head splitting, not even having the energy to keep her ears held high. They flopped, her eyes drooped, and all she wanted was her bed.

"Carrots!"

She couldn't help but respond to her nickname. She watched as Nick came running around the cordon, meeting her on the other side. His ears were pushed back with concern, his green eyes blazing. Ffion lingered in the background, keeping a safe distance. Judy wasn't sure how long she would keep her mouth shut if Ffion began to annoy her.

She looked up at Nick, folding her arms. "Look at your phone."

He frowned. "What? Are you oka-"

" _Look at your phone, Nick."_

The sudden understanding transformed his expression from worry to dread in a matter of a second. He pulled his phone from his pocket, pressing the button to bring the screen to life. His entire body appeared to deflate before her.

"I rang you. I rang to _five_ times within two hours, and I got _nothing_. We said we would meet to go over what we'd found, _for a case,_ but you weren't there." She glared at him, unable to keep the anger out of neither her voice nor her body. She'd gone easy on him before, but now that a group of innocent children had been victimised, she was forced to play bad cop. "Animals are getting _hurt,_ Nick: pull yourself together, or don't bother helping at all."

The fox could do nothing but stare at her, the paw holding his phone now slack at his side.

Finally, he said, "I'll do better, Carrots."

"Then stop running off on dates and focus!"

"He can do what he wants." Ffion called, sounding as annoyed as Judy felt.

"Who asked _you?_ " Judy snapped back. "Better yet, why are you even _here_?"

Ffion snarled at her, ears folded back in a threatening manner. To finally boil Judy's rage to its absolute peak, Nick placed himself in front of her and Ffion, looking at her in disappointment. She couldn't believe it. He had actually put himself between the pair, but not in her own aid. It was to shield her wrath from _Ffion._ He even looked annoyed with her.

"I brought her with me." He stated.

She let a beat pass. "Did you even find anything earlier? At the library?"

Nick opened his mouth, and then shut it again. Just what she thought.

"You keep telling me to not get into trouble." She told him. "Notice how every time I do at the moment, you're not there, and not answering your phone?" She shook her head and released a long, heavy sigh, finally letting the weight of the night rest heavily on her shoulders. "I'll see you tomorrow."

She left, leaving the police lights, Chief Bogo and her best friend behind.

* * *

Nick didn't sleep that night. He simply stared at the five missed calls from his friend, _best friend._ He'd had his phone switched off at the time. How could he be so _stupid?_ This was the second biggest case of their careers, and he was threatening it with his lack of communication. He agreed to be on this case because he thought that Judy wouldn't be able to handle it on her own. And now that he was in on the case, he was letting her down even more.

For god sake, he'd put himself in front of Ffion, someone he barely knew, to protect her from his own best friend.

 _What is wrong with me?_ He thought.

He rang her, but of course she didn't answer. It was long into the night, and she would have been fast asleep. He hadn't gone after her when she left, but he hadn't stuck by Ffion, either. He'd stormed home, furious with the case, himself, Judy… furious with everything and anything. But now, in his apartment hidden below ground with the only sounds being the water flowing through the pipes at an unorganised rhythm, he had never felt more ashamed and alone.

He knew that if he stayed here he would go mad. He needed to prove himself again. He had to do something. He had to get Judy on his side again, because he knew he could do this. They could do it together. They were a team, and unlike everything else, he couldn't screw it up.

He _wouldn't_ screw it up.

Nick Wilde left his apartment when she didn't answer the phone for a third time. He had evidence to find, and an act to pull together.

He refused to be the disloyal fox everyone wanted him to be. And he was going to prove to Judy that he would be the best partner she could ever ask for, just like he'd promised from the get go.

* * *

 **Thanks again for reading you lovely people!**


	11. Footage

**Don't worry, I've not abandoned ship! It's just been a very busy few days, and i'm very sorry for that! Thank you for being so patient with me, and for all of your lovely follows, favourites and reviews!**

* * *

Finnick wasn't in the mood to be annoyed today. He had some money to make, now that he had to work twice as hard with Nick Wilde out of the picture. It amused him, really, that the sly fox had turned to the fuzz rather than continuing on with the street life. But who was Finnick to care? If he wanted to prance around with a bunny that was just as good at the conning game as he was, then hats off to him. Finnick didn't have time to judge, for he had far more important things on his mind.

Important meaning money, of course. And to be nosey.

And yet, when he saw his old "friend" circling a familiar bunny, he felt nothing but frustration.

It was Leo, the familiar feline who believed he was a better thug than any mammal to ever roam. Of course he was wrong, nothing more than a snivelling cat wanting to be more than he ever would be. His peculiar scent of dark, spoilt earth and the constant purring beyond his control had Finnick pulling his lips back over his teeth. His irritation was increased further when he watched him prowl around Judy Hopps, a bunny who had once amused him, only to later come to him for help in finding her friend. He liked her, despite being part of the fuzz. She was clever and funny, and better yet, she had once promised him to never expose him after the events of the Night Howlers.

He listened before he approached, unable to miss the conversation at hand. Perhaps Hopps could handle her own, and if that were the case, then Finnick would happily go about his day. Slinking into the shadows, he pried with his overly large ears, which were currently vibrating in the rhythm of their conversation just a few metres away.

"You were there last night," Hopps was saying, agitation evident in her voice. "I could smell it. You attacked those children!"

"I think you have me mistaken for someone else, fluff." Leo replied, digging his paws into his pockets and smirking.

"I smelled _coal!_ I could smell your fur!"

"Anyone and anything could smell of coal," the cat reasoned. "Besides, if I stand correct, didn't the perpetrator _roar?_ In case you didn't know, which I'm sure you do being a rabbit and all, cats _meow._ "

"How do you know they roared?"

"Cat's intuition."

"Liar. I should have you arrested for withholding information."

"If I recall," Leo squinted at her, mockingly and smirking in an almost similar fashion to Nick, minus the cleverness. "Wasn't I the one who told you about the red squirrel?"

"You gave me no name, no address, no background; that's hardly helpful." Hopps snapped, tapping her foot impatiently while folding her arms stubbornly. Finnick almost chuckled to himself. The bunny showed no ounce of fear; her heart beating at a steady rate while her expression remained firm, giving nothing but exasperation away. She put her weight onto her left leg, her ears slanting in the tilt of her head to the right.

 _What a poser,_ Finnick thought with a grin. He'd bet money on anything that she could easily outwit that nuisance of a cat, who just tried to appear lazy and uninterested.

"Yet you still got the information you needed, correct?" Leo challenged.

"If you claim to be the know it all you say you are, tell me more." Hopps ordered, pulling her notebook from her breast pocket and her carrot pen from her belt.

"Why?"

"Because I _asked_ you to." She snarled. For a rabbit she could be pretty frightening.

Finnick found himself increasingly interested in their choice of topic. Who was this red squirrel they spoke of? And what attack on children? What on earth had this bunny gotten herself mixed up in? He thought that her last case had been a big enough of a job for her, yet this one seemed a lot more shady that the first. And while he listened, he was also curious as to where old Nicky was. It was rare not to see the pair together, whether it be on or off duty. Had something happened?

Suddenly, Leo exposed his claws to the young bunny, glistening in the midday light. She naturally froze, a reaction beyond her control, yet her heart remained steady. The cat teased the fur of her cheek with a long, threatening talon, so delicate that he seemed to be counting every individual strand of fur. Out of eyeshot from the main public in Savannah Central, hidden in the darker backstreets, only Finnick was here to witness the threat, and he'd frankly had enough.

"Back up, Leo." he called, glaring in his direction as he made his way towards them. The cat relaxed his paw, momentarily looking confused. And then his eyes lit up in recognition, and he slunk away from the rabbit to await the little fox's greeting… or lack of.

"Finnick! Long time no see!" he said, feigning a pleasant smile.

Finnick snarled under his breath, coming to stand beside a gobsmacked Hopps. "Why are you threatening the bunny?"

"Oh come on, that wasn't anything, it was an empty threat!"

"Don't annoy me, mittens." Finnick snapped. "Either give her some information or beat it."

Leo flexed his expression into one of defeat and displeasure. He would never be a match for Finnick, no matter how much bigger he was. Finnick had been on the streets all his life, right from the beginning, and he knew the ins and outs and how to survive. He had a tough demeanour because he didn't have a choice in the matter. Whereas Leo had only come into this lifestyle within the last few years, before that having been well groomed, well fed and generally well off. He came here out of choice, because he thought it would be cool, and not out of desperation.

"I don't have any information."

"And I have elephant ears." Finnick retorted sarcastically. "Tell her the truth." Leo literally hissed at him and Finnick rolled his eyes. "Then get lost before I bite your face off, fur ball. Miss bunny here has better things to be doing."

With a final glare, Leo moved off, shooting Hopps a deadly scowl. The rabbit glowered back, unflinching, and awfully stiff in her stance. Finnick coolly folded his arms as he watched Leo disappear into the shadows and out of sight, unlawfully smug with himself.

"You really need to control that freezing reflex, fluffy." He told her calmly, finally looking up at the officer. She stared at him, open mouthed, an almost laughable expression. "It'll get you hurt otherwise."

"Why did you do that?" she demanded, following slowly as Finnick went to continue his morning stroll.

"Because you're a dirty cop; you got my back, then I've got yours, that's how it works." He told her. "I also hate that guy." He stopped and turned to her, raising an eyebrow. "These attacks you're talking about? I don't think Leo did it, whether you believe you smelled him or not. He is _literally_ a typical cat, scared of his own shadow."

"He's right." Finnick knew that voice from behind, identifying him as none other than his former colleague. He turned with a sly grin in greeting, catching sight of him in the green shirt and light brown trousers. He had something in his left paw, a plastic bag containing several heavy looking items. Finnick squinted to try and get a better look before scowling at the larger fox.

"And where have you been?" he demanded hotly. Nick shot him a glare, his green eyes large, swimming with information.

"That's a good question." Hopps agreed, looking distastefully at her friend. Suddenly Finnick felt the tension between the two, looking between them again and again in utter confusion, like a child stuck between two parents fighting. Nick bit his lower lip, his ears falling back ever so slightly when he felt the pressure of Hopps' stare.

"Researching, just like you asked." Nick told the rabbit, lifting the bag he was holding.

The look of surprise on the bunny's face was a note for Finnick to slink away, deciding respectively that they needed time to talk.

And not to mention he had a feeling their conversation was going to get very boring very quickly.

* * *

Judy watched the footage in astonishment.

At the time of the attack, she never realised just how much danger she had put herself in. She could feel her blood run cold beneath her fur, her ears drooping back in terror. She wanted to run away, yet at the same time she was glued to her seat with Nick closely flanking her, staring at the screen with a blank look.

They were in the library, using the computer and video player resources to watch the CCTV footage Nick had managed to obtain. Nick had practically dragged her there the minute Finnick disappeared, refusing to tell her anything and that it would be better to show her. She tried to find it in herself to be angry with him, so kept her mouth shut while he led her to where they were now. He said nothing, only pushed the tape into the player, found the correct software, and hit play.

There were several segments, all black and white. The first was from a high angle, located behind the three children Judy had encountered, with her slowly approached just out of view. The next showed the children fleeing, and Judy running after them just a few seconds later.

The cameras then switched to one just beyond the alley in which Judy had sprang through. It spun slightly, trying to lock on to her, but she was so fast it was unable to keep up. This continued for the next thirty seconds that she was running and using the walls for leverage, the camera barely capturing a shot of her before she disappeared around another corner.

The final shot was not of Judy, however, but of the child she was trying to rescue. The little otter looked utterly petrified, running this way and that to escape whatever danger was present. Judy squinted, trying to spot whatever it was that was chasing him. He disappeared out of the shot, and a mere few seconds later, the culprit made himself known.

Indeed, it wasn't the cat, Leo.

Fur black and wild, jaws filled with glistening white teeth, the two fangs longer than Judy's head, and claws capable of tearing a lion to shreds, let alone a young otter. She stared, utterly taken aback. The power in that creature, the muscle that rippled with its quick movements, made her feel sick. She hadn't been going up against a cat. She'd been going up against a _bear_.

"He's not savage." Nick said quietly, pausing the video. He zoomed in with the mouse, and used a short nail to tap against the screen where the bear's ear could be seen. "He's wearing an ear piece; the wire disappears beneath his shirt, and you can just make out a light in his trouser pocket. See?"

She did see. "Yes."

"I want us to take this back to Bogo, and then I want you to drop the case, Carrots." He said it so bluntly, so clearly, that she thought he was certain she wouldn't argue.

"Are you serious?" she demanded, finally tearing her eyes away from the screen and staring at him.

He frowned, looking at her like she was stupid. "This thing is bigger than the both of us. You could have been killed last night, Carrots, don't you get it?"

"Yeah," she countered. "No thanks to you."

She immediately regretted saying it. The flash of hurt was there, right there in his eyes, and it almost knocked the breath out of her in remorse. But he didn't give her a chance to speak.

"I messed up, I get it. I'm trying to make it right. I was out all last night trying to find these, and before you ask it's not important _how_ I got them, and then I saw this. You _can't_ carry on with this, it's too big!"

Maybe it was too big. But maybe that was her best weapon. Who would suspect a rabbit to take down a scheme like this? They, whoever they were, would never see it coming. Lives were being threatened, homes were being broken into, and it was only a matter of time before the press clocked on to what was happening and the whole of Zootopia would break out into panic. She had to stop that from happening. She couldn't let the past repeat itself, where prey fears predator, not after everything they'd worked for.

"Nick," she murmured, looking him in the eyes as gently as she could. "We have to do this. It's big, but the consequences of doing nothing will be much, much bigger."

He let that sink in for a moment. Finally, in a very tired gesture, he sighed. "Then what do we do?"

She looked back at the screen. "We find ourselves an angry bear."

Nick planted his face against the desk in defeat and dread whilst Judy replayed the footage again.

* * *

 **Poor Nick, always putting up with Judy's crap :')**


	12. Breaking

**Again, thank you for being patient with me, I've have an extremely busy weekend with work and today all i wanted to do was sleep before writing/uploading this! Sorry for any mistakes, as it is now 02:05 here and my eyes hurt!**

 **Hello to my new followers, thank you very much, and thank you to the rest of you for keeping up with the story you lovely lot!**

* * *

Nick smelled her before he saw her, and instantly his heart dropped to the pit of his stomach. He could feel his mouth watering and his nostrils flaring, his inner self calling out to a vixen he barely knew. How could he let her get wedged so firmly beneath his skin? Never before had he let anyone get to him like this, not even his best friend, because he had never needed anyone quite like he felt he needed Ffion. It was insane, of course, but that didn't stop the constant need to be near her, to talk to her, to _be_ with her. Yet the conflict was so real. It wasn't him, Nick Wilde, that needed her, but rather his instincts. That pained him more than anything, knowing that despite everything, from proving himself as a reliable predator and a true friend, he couldn't fight his own nature.

In a desperate attempt to ignore her, he pulled out his phone and began furiously playing a game he had downloaded the first day he bought the device. He could feel Judy's eyes looking at him quizzically, and of course she caught on quickly as to why Nick began acting so strange yet again. He hated it. He hated how she could see through him and know what was going on, hated the anger it fuelled from her. He understood why she would be angry, because if the roles had been reversed he would have been too. They had a job to do, a case to crack, and yet here he was wanting to chase the tail of a vixen he'd barely had a friendship with so many years ago.

"Hi, Ffion!" Judy cried out enthusiastically, whipping herself around gracefully. Nick froze, gritting his teeth. Oh, no, what was she doing _now?_ "Beautiful day, isn't it?"

"Stunning." Ffion replied from behind him, though her voice sounded bored. Nick continued to play his game, which was nothing more than trying to aim a basketball through a hoop to gain a high score. Ffion's scent made him want to choke it was so strong, and the desperate urge to turn around was unrelenting. He wanted to grab Judy and run, just so he wouldn't succumb to the inevitable.

"What can I do for you?" Judy asked her pleasantly.

" _You_ can do nothing for me, rabbit." He heard Ffion snap aggressively, making him twitch in discomfort. He had the need to defend Judy, yet his jaws felt as if they had been forced shut, almost as if he were wearing a muzzle all over again. "Nick? I thought maybe we could grab some food? It's lunch, after all."

"We're a little busy." Judy interrupted.

"I thought you were supposed to be taking the day off, fluffy?" Ffion retorted. Judy finally stood her ground after walking backwards a few steps, placing her hands on her hips like a scolding mother. Nick stopped in time with her, yet he never lifted his eyes from his phone, refusing to face Ffion. He was stronger than this, he knew he was. He _had_ to be.

"And you need to but your snout out of my own business." Judy snapped back.

" _Okay!_ " Nick finally burst out, not wanting to get in the middle of a fight. "How about we have a slight change in direction, maybe take a more friendly approach?"

"I simply asked if you wanted to go out for lunch, and _she_ stuck her whiskers in." Ffion said, throwing her paws up in frustration. Judy giggled, shaking her head mockingly.

"Actually, I asked if you needed any help and you bit my head off."

"I'll show you the meaning of biting your head off, you little-"

" _Enough._ " Nick finally snarled, glaring between the bickering animals. Judy merely smiled innocently, raising an eyebrow in question towards the vixen. "Ffion, was there really any need for that?"

She glared at him furiously, stepping towards him with an intent he didn't quite understand. He could see the strands of fur stand on end in anger, and it was the first time he had ever truly seen her yellow eyes blaze. He felt the sudden impulse of protection, and moved ever so slightly closer to his friend, who seemed none the wiser of the threat that stood before them. It wasn't the viciousness of a savage he had faced before in the eyes of a panther or an otter, but the rage of a being who wasn't getting their own way.

"Um, maybe we could get lunch another day," he told her, trying to keep the nervousness out of his own voice. Never in his life did he think he'd be slightly afraid of his own kind, yet at the same time that pull to her never left him, and to deny her of her wish made his gut twist in remorse.

"Why not now?" she demanded. "The rabbit more important than me?"

He said nothing in response to that, and instead muttered. "I have work to do."

"Like what?"

"Like teaching mammals like you to mind your own business." Judy said, the threat clear in her voice. He wanted to clamp his paw over her mouth to keep her quiet, the tension heavy in the air. It struck him that he had never noticed the true distaste between the two; furthermore that he had never truly seen the pair of them together in the first place.

"I think we should go." He urged Judy to move, grasping her shoulders in an attempt to move her along. She of course stubbornly held her ground, eying the vixen with a determined resentment.

Suddenly, with the movement any sly fox obtained, Ffion was there. Sleek, graceful, she effortlessly pushed Judy from his grasp and positioned herself between them, brushing her body to align with his own. The electricity was undeniable, and any kind of rational thought escaped him. She was everywhere, yellow eyes glistening and alluring, her smile almost too seductive to resist. He wanted to relax against her, to embrace her closeness, and let her entire being engulf him. All the frustration and resentment was gone, like it was a dream, and for the briefest of moments it felt like just the two of them.

" _Get a room!_ " someone cried from a passing car; a group of hysterically laughing hyenas.

" _Cover that bunny's eyes before she claws them out!_ " another shouted before bursting into his own fit of laughter. They peeped, laughing as they went, prompting Nick to push Ffion almost harshly away from him.

"I said enough, Ffion," he told her firmly. "I have a job to do."

"How could anyone possibly take you seriously when you have _that_ for a partner?" she pointed furiously at his friend, who now lingered closely to his other side, eying the vixen warily. She looked up at Nick in question, almost checking to see any sign that he may have agreed with the vixen. He opened his mouth to respond, to defend her in a way he knew he was obligated to, but it was like tar blocked any words from escaping. "Do you honestly not think she'll be your undoing? Do you not feel shame? Remember what that wretched group of prey did to you, Nick. Remember how they made you _feel_."

"I'm nothing like them or what they did!" Judy burst out in a need to defend herself. "They were kids! Kids make mistakes, right Nick?"

"Judy," saying her name was enough to silence her, but he couldn't stop himself from saying the next terrible words rushing from his mouth. " _Shut up._ "

The memories, the pain, the humiliation, were all too much. He remembered the feeling of entrapment, of feeling caged and unwanted. He remembered for those brief moments feeling like a washed up animal, his jaws clamped shut and his eyes burning with tears, his throat raw with anguish. He remembered the name-calling, the reminder that he was a predator, a danger to society as they had known it. He could feel that pain shift into the anger that had driven him up until the moment he met Judy, pulling him down and drowning him in wet cement. For a moment, he found it hard to breathe.

And then the memories faded, and the reality of what he had said kicked in. Judy stood in front of him; her ears flopped down, her eyes wet with the tears he had now caused, and her confident stance now slack and heavy. But she didn't let the tears spill, refusing to let Ffion see them, no doubt.

"I-" he began.

"It's fine." She said, her voice a little wobbly. "It's fine." She repeated, almost as if she were trying to convince herself of a lie. She turned to Ffion, blank faced, numb with shock. "Congratulations, you got your lunch date."

"Carrots-!"

"Take half an hour, Nick, and I'll meet you at the station." She suddenly sounded professional. "I'll get the information on our suspect, see what Bogo thinks, and we'll go from there, okay?"

Never had she sounded so professional, so controlled. It was almost _cold_. It was as if something had snapped between them, a cord that neither one could see yet had kept them together for this long. She was almost robotic, the lack of emotion in her voice striking a nerve within him he didn't even know he had.

He reached for her but she had already started to walk away. He never even noticed that beside him, Ffion was almost grinning.

* * *

The suspect was Grey Sharp, a thirty-year-old black bear with a bad history in rebelling the law. After looking at the footage, Bogo ordered for an instant arrest, yet Judy had a niggling feeling that he wasn't the lead culprit in this operation. He may have been strong and vicious, but he didn't strike her as the cunning, well-calculated type. He was apprehended just hours after the footage was viewed, and during that time Judy wasn't just in a predicament with the case, but also questioning Nick's loyalty.

After learning about his backstory, Judy had relied heavily on Nick's words to never let anyone get to her. What he didn't tell her was that she might have had to stand by that notion against him, too. She had never anticipated that he was snap at her, and telling her to shut up was an insult she didn't believe he understood himself. Telling her to shut up was insulting their own friendship. The key in that friendship, what built the chemistry, was the fact that she could never be quiet, that she was always talking and that he teasingly mocked what ever she burst out with. Even then, when trying to defend herself, she felt that he had had no real reason to snap at her. She had just wanted to know he was on her side, and instead he had knocked her clean off her feet in a way that had her head spinning.

But she wouldn't let him get to her.

Even when he came running ten minutes after she had given Bogo the tapes, panting and calling out to her by her nickname, she couldn't even bring herself to twitch in response to his calls. She never replied to him, only waited patiently in Bogo's office whilst the chief watched the tapes in silent disbelief, oblivious to his officer's frantic calls outside for his partner.

Finally, the arrest was made after furious orders down the phone, and Judy calmly left the office. Nick was waiting for her, and she briskly informed him of the progress taking place, not once looking him in the eye.

"Stop talking like that, Carrots, it doesn't suit you." He told her, trying to sound playful behind the panic.

"Like what, Nick?" she asked as calmly as she could.

"Like… like an _officer._ "

" _Oh_ , is that because I can't be taken seriously?" she asked almost too sweetly, bittersweet acid slipping free from her tongue. "Should I, you know, shut up, maybe?"

He was quick to explain, tripping over his tongue in his haste to justify himself to her. "I shouldn't have said that, I know I shouldn't have said that, and I am so sorry-"

"She cheated." Judy interrupted.

"What?"

"Ffion cheated." She clarified. "She wasn't getting what she wanted there in the moment, so she decided to play on your emotions to get what she needed from you. She played you." She shrugged, remaining indifferent, understanding the truth as she said it. "She played you to get to me."

"Why would she want to get to you?" he asked her. "Why would she want to hurt you when she doesn't know you?"

She shrugged again. "She wants me to be the dumb bunny she thinks I should be, not the police officer I am. She doesn't fool me."

"I think you've got it wrong."

"I'd better shut up then, hadn't I?"

She turned away before he could reply, just as she caught a glimpse of Sharp being escorted through the building and towards the questioning rooms. He was bigger than she thought, almost menacing, his face alive with scars from battles she couldn't bear to think about. But she wasn't afraid. She wouldn't allow herself to be, for she was about to question this mammal to his breaking point.

She followed the suspect held between two officers, arming herself with her pad and pen. Nick followed, head down, tail between his legs, not uttering a single word.

Inside the interrogation room, she looked Sharp dead in the eyes without a flinch. He snared back, black beads for orbs piercing, the smell of coal and smoke intoxicating. He was big and threatening, lips always pulled back to present a sneer, ears flat against his head, his claws threatening the wood of the table between them. He was in nothing but a white tank top and dark shorts, causal enough for a bear.

Carefully, she presented still shots of the tape recordings to him, pinpointing him at the scene. Nick looked on in silence, sitting on the edge of the same chair they shared as if trying to give Judy space. She was almost grateful.

"This is you, correct?" she asked, keeping her eyes on him.

"Yes." He replied, his voice low and gravelly, barely even glancing at the images.

Calmly she then presented the photos of the three children he had attacked just the night before, each a family photo of them beaming at the camera with not one care or fear in the world. "And these are the children you attacked last night, yes?"

Sharp shrugged and grinning lazily. "I guess so, yeah."

"Why?" she demanded, drumming her perfectly filed claws on the table, glaring furiously.

"I was told to, of course. I wasn't going to hurt them, though, those little things. What use are they to me, really?"

"Who told you?" Nick asked, leaning forward. "Who told you to attack them?" He was finally speaking like the officer he had been trained to be, and if it hadn't been due to the circumstances in and out of work, Judy would have smiled approvingly.

"Now why would I tell you, foxy?" Sharp answered with another wide, toothy grin. "Or you, rabbit?"

" _Why_ would someone want you to attack innocent children, Sharp? What gain could you possibly get from that?"

There was a long, heavy beat, and it took Judy a moment to notice she was chewing the inside of her cheek in anticipation for another piece to the puzzle, desperate for a distraction from her current state of affairs outside of work. He was the number one suspect, openly admitting to the attacks; he had to know _something else_ that he was willing to share with the police now that he was no longer going to live a free life.

He smiled, leaned in, and said, "You, Officer Hopps."

* * *

 **Ouch**


	13. Connection

**Hi! Don't worry i haven't stopped writing this, i have just been very very busy these past few days with work due to it being easter, which i hope you all ate lots of chocolate since i haven't had chance to! Again i'm sorry for the wait, hopefully ill be able to update again once I'm not so tied up at work!**

* * *

 _Judy was running. She was running as fast as her legs would allow, the power in her hind legs stronger than they had ever been before. She could feel the burning in her muscles, her heart pounding with so much speed she thought it just might burst free from her chest. Her paws, all four of them, slammed against the ground with the urgency to move, to get away from_ something, _and the pain of it was almost unbearable._

 _Run, run, run!_

 _She could feel herself struggling to breathe with the demand of her haste, but there was no letting up. She had to keep going. The vibrations on the ground did not just cover her own movements, but also that of something else giving chase._

 _Surrounded by trees, broken earth covered in fallen leaves and undergrowth, she was doing everything she could to avoid every obstacle that came her way. She launched herself over a fallen log, the wooden rotten and crumbling beneath her paws. She scrambled in the leaves as she hurried to change direction, her claws ripping the terrain as she aimed to get some sort of leverage._

 _The ground shook, and she almost screamed as she clambered forward in a desperate attempt to escape the unknown. That's when she knew something was wrong._

 _Judy didn't take to being afraid. Judy wasn't one to run unless it was absolutely necessary._

 _This was just a horrible dream._

 _With that knowledge, Judy sprung mid-run, leaping up into the air with her long legs stretching forward, ready to kick the oncoming attacker. But what she saw coming at her had her screaming from the bottom of her lungs, and the terror of what she was seeing hit home all to harshly._

 _Nick fell down on her, jaws wide, eyes wild, insane with blood lust. She was too shocked and frightened to finish her defensive attack when Nick's claws came slamming down through her fur and slashing her skin, while her back hit the ground with such force it knocked the breath out of her._

 _Fearfully she covered her face from his drooling fangs, desperate to get away, only to find herself shrieking in terror when he grasped the collar of her shirt between his teeth and began to shake her like nothing more than a doll. The snarls that ripped from his throat were deafening, the ripping and tearing of her clothes gut wrenching, and the dismaying question of why swirling in her mist of horror._

 _She thrashed beneath him, and painfully managed to launch her legs into his gut, flinging him off of her. She moved, dragging herself along the floor while her bones fell back into place, stiff and worn. She could feel the exhaustion caving in on her, deafening and blinding, keeping her from any kind of escape._

 _She screamed when teeth latched onto her ankle, and suddenly she was airborne._

 _She landed as quickly as she flew, only the pain was everywhere. She bounced and topping, her nose in the dirt and grit crunching between her teeth. She winched, trying to gather herself and stand, but she fell hopelessly to the ground, too exhausted and hurt to move any more._

 _"Poor, sweet Judy."_

 _She looked up, pushing past the pain, to see Ffion leering at her. She, too, was on all fours, with Nick by her side and looking as enraged and insane as a savage. They closed in on her, and Judy could do nothing to save herself._

 _"Why?" she whispered brokenly, tears wetting her eyes as she gazed helplessly at her friend, who glared viciously back._

 _"This is what happens when you try to become more than what you are," Ffion replied, licking her lips. "The world will always fight back, Judy, and you are no match for what should be. You are prey, we are predators; you will always be at our mercy, rabbit."_

 _"Nick, please-"_

 _"Kill her."_

 _And with that, Nick lunged for the final onslaught._

* * *

 _"NO!"_ Judy shot up in horror, tangled in her bed sheets with her body shaking in utter panic. Her eyes darted around the room, seeking any intruder who may wish to harm her, but all she found was the shadows of her furniture cast on the walls from the street lamps outside her window. No Ffion, no Nick trying to hurt her; just her safe in her bedroom and the only noise being the occasional traffic outside.

She closed her eyes and counted to three, waiting for her heart to finally slow and her shaking to cease.

Today had not gone exactly as she had foreseen it. When she continued to question the bear about what exactly he meant by his statement, he refused to answer anymore questions, and eventually she was forced to give up. Nick, too, had grown uncontrollably frustrated, demanding what he meant by his final statement, but to no avail. He told Judy not to worry, and that she would be safe and nothing was going to happen, but she kept her mouth shut. She was too jostled to take any notice of anyone's reassurances, not even Bogo's, who promised that she wouldn't be that far into the case before the entire force intervened.

Nick had tried to get Bogo to give the case to someone else. Both he and Judy said no, of course. This had enraged him, leading to a blow up between him and his chief over the concern for his partner's safety.

 _"No one asked you to join the case, Wilde."_ Bogo had growled at the seething fox, all the while Judy gazing distantly through the one-way glass where she could see Sharp laughing at something, yet completely alone in the interrogation room.

" _I'm her_ partner, _Chief, it was in my best interest as well as hers,"_ Nick had replied, acid dripping from his tongue to match his bubbling anger.

 _"I can look after myself, Nick."_ Judy had murmured, her face morphing into a frown as she stared through the glass at Sharp. _"Bogo knows that."_

 _"Tell that to claws over there, then, Carrots."_ Nick had snapped back, finally grabbing her shoulder to spin her around, forcing her to look at him. Instead she had kept her eyes on the ground, being as stubborn as always. _"You don't have to do this."_

 _"I do,"_ she'd replied. _"And I will."_

And with that she had stormed off, leaving the bickering pair to fight it out between themselves whilst she had desperately needed some fresh air. As she left, she'd noticed Ffion lurking on the other side of the street, her shadow cast along the road with the setting sun while her expression came across as sour. They had made eye contact, and enough was said between the pair in those few seconds. Ffion had smirked, dropping her paws sleekly into her jeans pockets and dipping her head, eyes and teeth glinting in the overcast of red and yellow. Judy had merely blinked, feigning ignorance, as she went about her way. She refused to allow her the satisfaction of knowing the wedge she had lodged into Judy's life, cracking it piece by piece as she knew it.

And here she was, wide-awake at four in the morning, nightmares swirling around in her mind that kept sleep at bay. Her phone was on her bedside, low in battery as it dimly lit its screen upon picking it up. Nick had rang five times, the last call an hour ago. She sighed, placing the phone back on the table face down.

She had to get out of here.

Quickly dressing into a white t-shirt, her light purple jacket, and a pair of light jeans, she left the apartment in utter silence. It felt good to be out of her uniform for a change, the clothing loose of her body that allowed her to move and breathe with ease. She stretched her muscles with the feel of release, relishing in it while she could.

And then she jogged into the night, clicking the door to her building quietly shut behind her before she had no intention on looking back. Right now, she had to clear her head if she was to focus on the tasks that were building up before her, and running was her way of getting that out of her system. With the breeze cooling her ears and the soft, none-urgent pat of her feet against the ground reminded her that this was the real world, where she wasn't being chased by her best friend who was ready to kill her. That world would never be real.

For the moment, she let the case fall free as she ran like a second skin. It was weighing her down, keeping her from being the mammal she was. Lately she had been stressed, angry and utterly alone in a world populated by the many, and it was all because of this case. A part of her felt like she wished she could drop it. She missed her old life, the one before the attacks and the one before Ffion, back when it was just her and Nick making the best team.

Now it was like the ground had split in an earth quack, forcing a divide between her and everything she knew.

Right now, in her loneliest, most innocent moment, she wished she was a child again with her family wrapped around her, forever promising that she would always be okay and that nothing would ever hurt her. She could almost feel the warmth of her mother and the goofy voice of her father as they held her, delivering those empty promises.

She stopped mid-run, fighting back the tears that burned her eyes and throat, and forced herself to count to ten.

"Hey, Whiskers, don't be weird and cry in the middle of the street, that's uncool."

Judy looked up in a start, frozen in the middle of an empty, silent road. Directly in front of her was Chad Ermin, the stoat she had met along with the cat. He didn't look all that amused, or threatening, just indifferent as he looked at her. His hands were in his trouser pockets, his little brown and white head tilted to the side as he teased his collar with his small claws. Judy lacked the spark she had had upon their last meeting, too hopeless to express determination and confidence.

"You look tired, rabbit." Chad acknowledged.

She shrugged in reply.

"What are you doing out here at this time in the morning?"

Again she shrugged, heavier this time.

"Ah, not really in the _talking_ mood; I see." He said, nodding to himself in his own agreement. "I'll do the talking then, and you just put those ears to good use."

Judy folded her arms tiredly across her chest, doing as she was told and saying nothing, but pricking her ears slightly forward to prove that she was indeed listening. She was of course curious as to what Chad had to tell her.

"You want to know what the bear meant by saying that you were the gain in the attack of those children – don't ask how I know, I just do – and now you're frightened and confused. Well, you need to look between the lines of the attacks. Don't look directly at the victims, or the nature of the attacks, but look _beyond_ that. What lives did the victims have before? Who did they socialise with? What did they _do?_ Ignore the threat looming over you, that's not important. Look at the bigger picture, and the rest with sort itself."

There was a long pause, and the stoat nodded to himself as if nothing more needed to be said. As he turned away, Judy finally spoke.

"Why are you helping me?"

Chad turned back around with a smile, his eyes glinting mischievously. "Some of us want to be what we're not, others want to live by their stereotypes, but there are some out there that want to live exactly how nature intended."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, you'll find out soon enough, Hopps, I have no doubt about it. Just keep an eye on that fluffy tail of yours."

And Chad left, leaving Judy once again in a predicament.

* * *

Later, whilst looking through the files of her victims in the low light of her lamp on her desk, Judy found something curious.

Each victim, all prey, had a life that resembled any other mammal life, prey and predator alike. However, there was something deeper, yet no one would have seen it as an issue in hindsight. Had Judy not been nudged in the right direction, she would have overlooked it, too. Why would anyone think any more of it?

Each victim had a close family friend, or friends.

Peter Bush, for example, had been in a close partnership with a friend called Timmy Shade, a raccoon who had been a part of his life since they were both kids. She found this information whilst expanding on a statement given by the raccoon, which had expressed his concern for Peter and lack of understanding of why anyone would do such a thing to someone so kind. Online, through social networking, she found many photos of the two together, clearly the closest of friends.

Another victim, Richard Haring, was found by his wife's best friend and children's godmother, Tia Snow, a Lynx. She had been part of the Haring family for the best part of ten years, and was greatly loved by her friend's children, who would one day be put into her own care should anything happen to her parents.

Furthermore, the hedgehog had close relations to his neighbour, a badger. The sheep was in partnership with a wolf at his place of work, while her long time friend, a cheetah, cared for the elderly zebra. The koala was often seen out with a dingo and his family, whilst the deer was a gym partner of a tiger. Also the beaver was the best man of the coyote, a lion was the common babysitter to the gazelle's children, and finally a leopard was one of the bridesmaids to the okapi.

Judy forgot how to breathe.

The victims had all been close friends with one or more predators.

They were being _punished_ for being friends with their enemies.

* * *

 **Please let me know what you thought!**


	14. Void

**Only a short chapter tonight guys, but I couldn't keep you waiting so thought I'd better keep you dosed for another few days, I hope you enjoy and I apologise for any mistakes:)**

* * *

Nick sat anxiously on the chair that he and Judy shared, ready for the morning's briefing just like every other day in the week. He swung his legs nervously, his eyes darting left and right while his nose desperately tried to sniff out his friend. He hadn't heard from her since yesterday, absolutely nothing, and he was worried. He hoped to god that she would turn up to work today, or he was sure he was going to lose his mind.

He wanted to hurt Sharp for threatening her the way he did. He wanted to hurt himself for yelling at her the way he had. He wanted to yell at Ffion for messing with him and making him question everything he knew about himself. Never before had he felt such turmoil within himself and everything around him. Before Ffion, before Judy, his life had been easy. Judy made it better, but Ffion had made him fall into a pit of questions that he was unable to answer. He promised himself that he wouldn't screw up the new life that had been given to him, and yet he now feared about the absence of his best friend.

But he caught that whiff of blueberries and carrots, making his heart skip a beat with relief. He placed a smile onto his lips, yet it quickly fell away like a wall of flaking paint.

At five minutes to nine, Judy came skidding through the door with her laptop tucked under her arm, her uniform dishevelled as if she had slept in it. He could hear the pounding of her heart before he even saw her, thudding away in her chest like a gazelle fleeing from a cheetah. He stood up on their chair, ready to call out to her, but she hadn't even glanced his way. Her eyes, wild and on high alert, were fixed on Chief Bogo, who gazed down at her in confusion and concern.

"Officer Hopps?"

"Sir, we need to talk, like, _right now._ "

"It's almost nine, time for the briefing-"

" _Now_."

He wondered why she hadn't called him. Then he remembered instantly how he had treated her, and pinched his snout in his own frustration. He wanted nothing more than for her to look at him and at least smile, just to give him a peace of mind, but her stare was locked on her chief. She have no indication that she knew he was there, and that hurt him more than anything had in a long, long time.

"Please, it's a link in the case." She said it more quietly, determined to get him alone to burst out whatever findings she had uncovered. "A _big_ lead."

Something about her expression was enough to silence the room and have all ears rounded on her. The certainty in her voice was unyielding, her posture so sure, that it was hard to ignore. And Nick should have been up there with her, sharing that same solidarity with her, but he wasn't. He was in the audience looking on, isolated and in the dark, all because of his own head not being in the game.

He'd turned his back on her without even intending to.

All night their argument had played on repeat in his head, and he had never in his life wanted to make things right quite like he did right now. He and Judy had bickered many times before, but this was something different. There was a crack, a void between them, refusing to let them unite like they once had, and it pained him beyond belief. It was like the earth had split beneath their feet, and the only thing that unified them was to shout between the nothingness, instead of running side by side.

She was right there in front of him, a mere few steps away, and he missed her, as if she was a thousand miles away.

"Alright," Bogo murmured, and then turned to the rest of the room. "Everyone, take five, and I expect full attention when I do."

There was a beat of silence before the room exploded into booming chatter, everyone talking loudly apart from Nick, who stood in dumbfounded silence. Judy still refused to look his way, following Bogo out of the briefing room and towards his office.

It only took him a moment to follow them.

The door to Bogo's office closed, and Nick slinked to the left side of it, pressing his ear to the wood. The vibrations of the wood tickled stray strands of fur, making his ear twitch every now and then, but that didn't stop him from listening with deep concentration, determined to capture every word.

Judy sounded incredibly anxious, making Nick spasm ever so slightly. She was meant to be talking to him frantically, because he knew how to make her feel better. He shouldn't have been prying in on her conversation with her _boss._

 _What happened to us, Carrots? Why did it go so wrong so quickly?_

"Prey are being punished!" She exclaimed, instantly grabbing Nick's full attention.

"What do you mean?"

"Each victim was, in one way or another, close to a predator. I was up all night, and I promise you I tried to find a broken cord, but it's all there! They all had a best friend, or a nanny, or a nurse, even a _neighbour_ , who just happened to be predators! And not just short term relationships, but _years_ of friendships, back to when they were children or teenagers! And Peter Bush, he told us that his attacker said prey would never be better than predators, that surely can't be a coincidence as well, and,"

"Easy, Hopps, you have to slow down." Bogo cautioned. "And I know the point you are trying to make, but I've found one flaw in your theory."

"What's that?"

"The children." He stated. "The child that was attacked was an otter pup, Hopps, a predator. Why would that attack be different than the rest?"

"To throw us off the track!" Judy cried. "It's obvious!"

"I need evidence."

"I'll get you evidence. Let me speak to the children."

Nick took this opportunity to stop listening, having heard enough. Reaching across, he twisted the door handle and effortlessly slipped though the doorway, shutting it quietly behind him. Bogo glared furiously at him, no doubt wishing that the fox wouldn't do that, but Nick merely cast a cold stare his way.

"And where have you been whilst Hopps was finding this information?" he asked Nick, folding his arms. Nick looked eyes with Judy, who looked almost startled to see him in the room, and Nick spoke without taking his eyes from hers.

"We had a disagreement, but I was hoping she would fill me in on her findings, so we could come up with a _rational_ plan together, as _partners._ "

Judy's cheeks puffed up in disgruntlement before she huffed angrily, keeping her violet eyes fastened on his. "Are you going to let me get a word in, or do I need to be quiet?"

Nick felt the angry prickle in his fur, and his ears fell back ever so slightly, his snout scrunching up marginally. "Keep it up and I'll tape that little mouth shut so that _I_ can get a word in."

" _Enough,"_ Bogo scolded. "I have a meeting to attend; you two are dismissed from it. Get me evidence, get me statements, and get me _names._ "

" _Yes sir."_ Nick and Judy said in unison, both continuing to glare at one another, and Bogo grumbled in annoyance, abandoning the pair in his office.

* * *

When Judy was finished explaining her theory in further detail, Nick closed the lid to her laptop. Pushing his anger aside, and wishing wholeheartedly that the tension between them would die off, he decided that they at least needed to be professional. They spoke of the case only, keeping their personal issues at bay for the time being. They were sat on the floor in front of their Chief's desk, their eyes having been on the screen until now. Finally Nick was looking at her again, his expression sincere.

"This is just a hunch, right?"

"It's all there," she replied, still staring at the now closed screen. "They all have the same link."

"Yes, but in a world where predator and prey have integrated. That won't stand up in court."

"Then what do you suggest?"

"I suggest that you get some better sources." He frowned at her. "One of your little friends came to you again, didn't they?"

"You don't think I can figure this out alone?"

"Carrots."

She sighed, giving in, and once again Nick found himself getting annoyed. "The stoat."

"I told you to keep away from them."

"Why should I when they are actually giving me _something_ to work with?" she retorted, folding her arms. Nick rolled his eyes to the ceiling.

"Bush was a good one, yes, but this time it was rash. You have to talk to me before you go running to Bogo." He pointed at her before she even opened her mouth. "And don't even go there, missy; I've apologised, I can't do any more than that."

Judy let her eyes fall to the ground in stubbornness. The two of them sat in silence for a while, contemplating their next move, and Nick took the opportunity to gaze at his friend. She had grown so bold compared to when he had first met her, yet she looked so tired. She needed a holiday. Her fur needed grooming, the fur on her ears needed a good trim, and her uniform needed ironing. He wondered when she had last properly slept. All of these thoughts and questions, things that had never bothered them until this case came along, and Nick wished he had never let her get involved.

"What's your next move?" he asked quietly.

"I still thing we should speak to the children." She replied back.

"Not a bad plan, but it's too soon for them. We need another move."

Judy thought for a moment. "What about the friends of the victims? See if they noticed anything weird in the lead up to the attacks."

"Better. Who should we see first?"

Judy opened the lid to her laptop again, scrolling through the case files she had saved since the first say of the case. She came to settle on Richard Haring's case file, ignoring his awful post attack photographs and focussed on his friend, Tia Snow. The photo was of the Lynx holding three of Haring's kittens, the four of them laughing and beaming into the camera. However, there was something about her eyes that spoke out to Nick, and apparently Judy, too. They held secrets, deep green orbs not all that they seemed, and the two officers shared a look, finally on the same page.

For now, at least.

* * *

 **Please review lovelies!**


	15. Protect

**I'm so sorry it's been so long, I've had so much to do it's been ridiculous! i've tried so hard to update but just simply haven't had the chance until now, so thank you very much for being patient you lovely people.**

* * *

Tia Snow was a curious creature, Nick found. She was nervous, but not in the same way as Peter Bush, but rather in a way that showed she was hiding something. Her fur, a peculiar mix of brown, grey and white, looked puffier than the regular lynx's fur, so soft looking yet the strands looking as sharp as needles with their intense stiffness. Her eyes never relaxed on them, always darting here, there and everywhere, almost as if she was looking for an escape route.

Nick didn't trust her from the get go, and judging from Judy's flattened ears and stern expression, she didn't either. Snow knew it. Her claws teased the hems of her sleeves, damaging the carefully knitted threads. Nick could even smell her nervousness, a sour smell that tickled the back of his throat. The room grew warm with the tension that swirled within, and Nick loosened the tie around his neck to allow his collar to breathe.

"You seem nervous, Mrs Snow." Judy remarked, not meeting her gaze as she looked around the room. They were in the lynx's office at her work, where she was in the position of a teacher at a primary school. The sounds of children laughing and playing outside was almost pleasant, as well as the many years worth of drawings created by youngsters dotted around the office, along with class photos, various marked calendars and text books.

"If the children see you here, they'll worry." Snow said, but her voice shook.

Nick frowned. "If I saw two cops at my school, I'd be excited."

"Yeah, I think they'll be fine." Judy agreed, eying the lynx suspiciously. "If you don't mind me asking, do you still hold a strong relationship with your godchildren?"

"I _do_ mind you asking, Officer Hopps." Snow snapped, her lips pulling back to almost, _almost,_ bare her teeth at her. Judy didn't even flinch, and smiled almost lazily at the mild threat that came her way. Nick fought the urge to roll his eyes; her sense of danger was almost none existent.

"This is about Mr Haring, you are aware." Judy continued. "Do you visit him much? What with his condition still being critical."

Snow shuffled uneasily in her seat. "I ask about him. I hear he's out of the woods."

"But you haven't been to see him." Nick added, raising a brow. "Odd, considering you have a close friendship with both him and his wife."

"I look after the kids whilst Mary goes to see him in hospital." Snow argued. "I have plenty to play in the healing of their family."

"And how are the children taking it? Have they said anything about what happened that night, things that might have only just come back to them?" Nick asked, resting his chin in his palm, gently scratching with his nails.

"They already told everything they could remember. Now they don't speak. They stay in their rooms all day, come down on the off occasion for food, and then disappear again. The attack had damaged them so much I doubt they'll be the same again."

"And the youngest, Sarah, how is she doing?" Judy asked, scribbling down notes that Nick couldn't quite read from his angle.

"Silent." Snow snapped, instantly tensing at the mention of the youngest child's name. "She hasn't said a word in weeks."

"Not even to you? I read that the two of you had the closest relationship, best friends, if you will. And now she doesn't say a word to you? Does she speak to her mother?"

"The attack ruined all of us, and we're coping in our own different ways. Why don't you make yourselves useful and find a suspect to interview rather than a working primary school teacher?"

"We are." Nick said, gritting his teeth when Snow began to rise out of her seat. The lynx froze at his words, staring him in the eyes, almost daring him to repeat himself. He met her gaze hard, swallowing stubbornly. He was almost certain that she was hiding something. The stench of her unease almost choked him, and for someone who used to lie all the time, he knew lying when he was faced with it.

"Those kids are talking. If we were to go there now and ask them what happened, I'm sure they'd happily cooperate. You're talking to a _fox,_ the face of lying. I think it's more a case of you not _letting_ them talk."

"Don't be so ridiculous!"

"Fine. Hopps, shall we go and test that theory?" Nick asked his partner, who's eyes gleamed with exhilaration.

"Absolutely."

Playing along with his game, the pair began to leave. Nick mentally counted down in his head from ten, and once their feet were out of the doorway, it didn't take her four seconds to cry, " _Wait_!"

The pair looked over their shoulders at her, only to see her on her feet, arms reached out to them while her eyes gleamed in fear. Nick smirked. All on a hunch, and they were finally getting somewhere. For the first time in this case, Nick and Judy were finally working as a team again, outwitting the animals they interviewed to get the answers they needed. He could almost believe that they were back to how they used to be, and when he turned this smirk in Judy's direction, she wasn't looking at him. His heart instantly sank.

"I was trying to protect them."

Nick pulled himself together. "How?"

"He threatened me. He threatened _them._ Three innocent children. I had to keep them safe, I had to-"

" _Who_ threatened them?" Judy demanded, and Nick knew that her carrot pen was already recording. Now wasn't the time to take down notes. She needed every last detail, and Nick wouldn't have had it any other way.

"The tiger." Snow replied, her voice visibly shaking. "He warned me to stay away from the family, and I thought it was just some terrible joke he was playing. But then he cornered me, told me he would hurt every one of those hares in that house, that the kids didn't make a scrap of difference. He said it was wrong, that a lynx shouldn't be mingling with prey. He… he told me that Richard had to pay for his naivety. I tried to warn them, but when I did… he threatened to kill the kids, and that it would be my fault. That _I_ did it to them."

"I need a name." Judy said. Snow ignored her.

"I watched as that tiger circled the house. I was there in the shadows when he broke in and attacked Richard. I'll never forget the screaming, the shouting and all of the crashing and banging and I… I did _nothing._

Sarah saw me. She knew that I saw it happen. She knew I didn't do anything. She won't talk to me, no matter how much I try to coax a word out of her. She won't even look me in the eyes. I begged her not to tell the police, that I was trying to do the right thing. I could never forgive myself if I let something happen to those kids, and I hate myself more and more everyday for what I let happen that night. I was so afraid-"

"You let someone attack a father and a husband, and you claim it was to protect his children?" Nick said in disbelief, his heart hammering in his chest with a rage he had never felt before. "Why didn't you call someone? Why didn't you get help?"

"I was afraid he'd hurt them!"

"You were afraid he would hurt _you._ " Judy snapped. "I need a name."

"I don't have one." Snow was crying now. "All I remember is that he wore trousers but no shirt, and that he has a preference for being on all fours. I think he's between the ages of thirty or forty. I don't know anything else."

"If we were to ask Sarah this, would her story match yours?" Nick asked.

"That I ruined her life and her family? Yes. That I didn't do anything to help? Yes. That I'm a coward? Yes!"

The pair said nothing else as they left, Nick's ears flat against his head as a stewed. He could hear Snow sobbing as they left, and had never felt more relieved for her own self-pity. She didn't deserve anyone else's. Nick couldn't understand how she could left harm come to the father of her godchildren, her best friend's husband, and not do anything about it. She could have rang the police and given a statement sooner. She could have intervened and tried to stop the attack before it even started. She could have done _something._

"You're theory is proving to be true." Nick told Judy, who was silent as she walked beside him.

"The idea of protecting someone by letting another get hurt is beyond me." She said in response. "All because a group of animals have never gotten over the reality of the new world."

"This is bigger than either of us ever could have imagined." Nick said.

"Yeah." She replied, but her voice sounded far away, her mind elsewhere.

They were out of the school grounds and on the side of a busy road. Nick stopped and waited for Judy to declare what she was thinking. He always knew when she was concocting a plan, but whether it was a good or bad one was always a mystery until she opened her mouth.

Finally, she said, "Go to the station and give this to Bogo. He wanted a statement. Maybe he can do the background reading on this mystery tiger." She handed him her carrot pen.

"And what are you going to do?"

"I need to check on something at home."

"Like what?" he was suddenly untrusting, not liking the distance in which her thoughts were travelling, so far away from him there in the moment.

"It doesn't matter. Come to mine when you're done and we'll figure out what to do next."

Reluctantly, they parted ways, a heavy unease in Nick's chest.

* * *

When Judy got home, she was sick to her stomach. This case got darker and darker with each turn, and the threat on children becoming a common theme was almost pushing her over the edge. Children were a big part of her life. She family had children left, right and centre, her siblings now with their own kids who thought of Judy as the most awesome cop to ever be recruited. She loved her nieces and nephews. They were her world, just as her parents were, and her friends. Nick was her world. While she was angry with him now, she would never, ever, see harm come to him. Judy was as protective as a mother, always had been. Now her name had been dipped in the mud during this case, and her name was linked to many other names, names that could hurt her more than the slashing of fatal claws.

Right now, feeling so heavy and drained, she needed to hear the voices of her family and assure herself that they were safe.

She rang her parents with the video on, just so that she could see their faces. She missed them so much at times. She missed the playing and the laughter and the family all together, no matter how many of them there were. She'd missed so many birthdays, so many school achievements, so many family arguments that she couldn't defuse simply because she wasn't there. She missed it all, and every once in a while needed to be reminded that they would always be there for her waiting.

"Jude the dude! How you doing sweetheart?" her dad was there on the other side of the camera, his booming smile and automatic relief.

"I'm doing good, just wanted to check in on you guys." She said, grinning ear to ear. They were in their family kitchen, her parents and her two oldest sisters with their kids. The children were already arguing until they heard her voice, and all at once they were there, shoving their granddad out of the way to get their faces in view whist crying out her name in excitement. She silently sighed with relief.

"How's this new case of yours going?" Her mother asked as she fought her way through the youngsters, getting a little too close to the camera that made Judy giggle.

"It's okay, a little stressful but okay."

"Nick still being a good partner? If not I'll be having words." Said her dad from somewhere in the background.

She laughed, believing that one only when she saw it. "Everything's fine. How're you guys?"

"Manic as ever!" he dad cried.

"Yes, but this is the first proper phone call we've had in a while. The line's been playing up. The phone keeps ringing but when we answer no one is there. Even tried getting a new landline. Ridiculous, all this technology; it's meant to be good for the future but it never even works!" said her mother, and instantly Judy's chest seized up.

"You've been getting silent calls?"

"All the time. I told you, I think it's the landline, it's just to actual talk to an actual mammal."

"Has anything else happened?"

"Not really. We don't see much of Gideon anymore, but I think that's just due to his work getting busy."

Alarm bells began to ring, and Judy did everything she could to not panic. Gideon wouldn't shy away from them, busy or not. They were close friends. Work partners.

Even if it was nothing, she had to get home. "I'm coming home."

"What? Why?"

"I just am!"

She hung up, and she was out of the flat in a heartbeat.

* * *

When Nick arrived forty minutes later, he was unnerved to find her door unlocked and slightly ajar. He gently called in to the little room, hoping to get a flabbergasted reply, but only silence awaited him. His heart began to drum heavily in his chest, weighing him down, making it hard to breathe. He knew she was acting weird, and when she got weird she got irrational. The lesser perks of behind friends with a bunny.

What he didn't expect, however, was to swing the door gently open to be met by an occupied room. Her smell hit him before he saw her in the gloom, and suddenly he felt ill. The light of the doorway crept towards the back window, the sky beyond orange with the setting sun. a silhouette stood there, ears pricked and alert, legs stood apart in a powerful stance. There was a book in her left paw, whilst her right paw was hidden behind her back.

"What are you doing in here?" Nick asked uneasily. "This is Judy's flat."

"Judy isn't here." Ffion replied.

"And?"

"What she doesn't know won't hurt her." She stepped into the light, a lazy smile on her face. The book in her hand made Nick's stomach flip. "So this is what you were hiding from me in the library, huh?" she flipped through the pages. " _The History of Predators and their Prey: Never to Resurface._ How original."

"Where's Judy?" Nick demanded, the worry in his gut growing more and more tight.

"You tell me. She just took off into the night." She shrugged.

"Why are you here?"

"Waiting for you, of course." She replied, still scanning the pages of the book in her paws. "I could only assume you'd come here looking for your friend after seeing the lynx."

Something felt so off Nick thought he was going to be sick. Judy wasn't here. Ffion was. Ffion knew about Snow. How? Had she been following them? Why? Where was Judy?

"I think you should leave."

"I don't. I like it here."

"This isn't your _home_."

She looked him in the eyes, her yellow orbs glowing. "And neither is it yours." She snapped. "It's a rabbit's."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that you are a very, _very_ , dumb fox." She snarled, dipping her head ever so slightly as she began to walk towards him. "I could have liked you, Nick, but I don't have a time of day for a fox who likes to run with the enemy."

Before Nick could say anything to reply with, is heart stopped all together. She pulled her right arm from behind her back, revealing a nightmare from his past. It looked heavy as it swung on her claws, mental clinking ever so slightly. The panic was overwhelming, and Ffion did nothing but grin in malice.

In one paw was a heavy, blunt object, and in the other was a muzzle.

She swung, and Nick never even felt the pain before he slipped into darkness.

* * *

 **Uh oh.**


	16. Danger

**i'm so sorry its been so long, I've been caught up in exams, work and then i had some family issues so just haven't had the chance to update until now, i really hope you can forgive me.**

 **I hope this starts to make up for it.**

 **Or not...**

* * *

The sense of panic within Judy's veins was overwhelming. She found it increasingly hard to breathe, her vision turning fuzzy while her brain whirled through all of the worst possibilities. But what was worse was that for the moment she could do nothing but sit in a taxi on the way to the train station, preying that time would go faster so that she could be with her family and ensure their safety.

Yet despite time feeling awfully slow, she was on the train before she could even think about what her next strategy would be once she arrived at Bunnyburrow. She felt the soft rumble of the train's engine beneath her feet as she thought out her plan. She would first make sure that everyone was accounted for, every last parent, sibling, niece, nephew and cousin. And she would keep an eye on them, promise them their safety. Then she would find out what happened to Gideon and make sure that he was okay, too. Only then would she call her work back in Zootopia. Only then would she call Nick. Right now, her family was number one.

She tried to call them again, and a fresh wave of panic flushed in when she received no answer.

The journey was almost more than she could bear. She was alone and frightened, unable to get in touch with her family, the signs of a mass prey attacker too big to ignore. She counted each beat of her drumming heart, tried to think rationally, but with the sun slowly beginning to set and the world succumbing to the dark, the dread only thickened in her blood. For the first time in her life, she felt like a real, stereotypical rabbit.

She never dreamt it would come to this. She never believed that becoming a cop would put her family in danger. Never in her entire life did she believe that doing something for the greater good would possibly ruin everything she had ever known and loved. Was she truly cut out for this anymore? If it meant putting her home and family in threat's way, what was the point? She could protect herself. She could protect the many civilians she had never known. But could she honestly keep her cool around her loved ones? Could she act professionally if she saw her mother being mauled, or her father trapped between the claws of a tiger?

 _Pull yourself together, Hopps, you're better than this and you know it._

If it came to it she would call back up. She would put herself between the danger and her family for as long as she could before help arrived. She couldn't call for backup yet. Her family might be just fine. She might just be over thinking everything like she has always done until the truth came out.

She felt up her belt. She had her cuffs and she had her badge. She didn't have a real weapon, but the fake black model was enough to threaten a looming threat into submission without firing. She was also armed with her radio, her voice never far from the station. She was good with words, and she was fast. If those she loved cooperated, she was confident that she could handle whatever situation came her way alone until backup arrived.

She could do this. Everything would be fine.

The train finally came to a stop, and Judy didn't take a minute to appreciate the green hills of Bunnyburrow before she was leaping through the barely open doors.

* * *

Tala Hopps was the youngest of the last litter of the Hopps family. Surrounded by thousands like herself, she always considered herself as invisible. She preferred it that way, really. It meant she could keep to herself, do her own thing, without her needy parents interfering. At twelve she was becoming more independent, and like one of her eldest sisters, Judy, she hoped to one day make a name for herself and prove that rabbits weren't as useless as they seemed.

Tala was on one of the many sofas in the one of three living rooms, her long, lean legs propped up on the back whilst her ears grazed the floor. Her mother said she was yet to grow into her legs, which she found to be a funny term. She loved her legs, simply for the fact that she could run faster than anyone else in the family. Tala was often scolded for it, told that running was too dangerous by her father, but she never let it stop her. She was a rabbit, after all.

The book that was in her hands had entertained her for so long until the words began to blur and the noise of her family became unbearable. Among the squabbling, shouting and laughing, one of her ears pricked ever so slightly to the sound of her mother's concerned tone. She continued to try and read, but her hearing ran away with her.

"Why is she rushing back if nothing's wrong? She sounded so scared and I'm worried. Stu, what if something happened?"

"Bonnie, you know how she is, always overreacting. She's always been the same. She'll come back, see that everything is fine, have supper and then go back in the morning."

Tala frowned. _Judy?_

"I don't want her worrying the children with those frantic eyes of hers, she gets them from you." Her mother mumbled.

Tala sat up in the right position, carefully closing the novel between her paws. Judy was rushing home. Why? Was she bringing Nick Wilde with her? Tala had been dying to meet the fox that has helped Judy get to where she was now, he sounded like a cool guy. But why would they come _here?_

 _"Hey!_ Stop it, that hurts!" screamed one of her younger cousins, hurting her already sensitive ears. She glared at the little kitten, Penny pinned beneath her older brother.

"Knock it off, you two." She snapped at them.

Penny stuck her tongue out at her. Tala threatened to throw the book back in return, and the youngster screamed.

" _Mommy_! Tala's being grumpy again!"

"Oh, shut up!" Tala snapped as her aunt Kelly walked in, her older eyes annoyed.

"Tala, I know you're going through an angry phase, but try and keep the attitude to a minimum."

"Judy's coming home." Tala said. Her aunt frowned, trying to figure out what possible reason her niece would be coming home for.

"Tala! Where did you hear that?" Tala's father demanded.

"You just said it. What other family member works away other than Judy?"

Stu Hopps looked ready to retort as he marched into the room, Bonnie in tow, but neither could get out a word before the main door burst open, allowing a gust of wind to blow in and startle everyone in its wake. Tala searched for the door, jumping up and moving towards the archway of the living room.

In the porch, Judy stood shivering and panting, her uniform dishevelled and her fur rustled and in desperate need of grooming. Her violet eyes looked worn, exhausted, and her usually beaming smile was vacant. Despite this, Tala didn't miss a beat.

She shoved through her parents and her siblings and cousins, running straight for her big sister. Judy met her gaze and opened her arms, allowing Tala to leap into them and nuzzle her face in Judy's neck, wrapping her legs around her waist as she hugged her with all her might.

"You have legs for days, missus." Judy murmured.

"You tell me every time." Tala whispered back.

* * *

Little Tala was the mirror image of Judy, only her eyes were a little darker, the violet rich and alive. Judy adored her, of course no more than everyone else, but she was the only sibling that she could relate to, no matter how young. She would always babysit her and the rest of the litter back in her teens, yet there was something about those shockingly curious purple eyes that always reminded Judy of her in a funny way.

Yet they were very different, too. Judy as a youngster always made a point of getting noticed and being the one everyone talked about, whist Tala kept to the shadows with her novels and planned her future in silence. But as she got older, thought still resistant, she was bold and voiced her opinion where she felt necessary. Granted she was no doubt going to be an angry teen unlike Judy, but she had dreams far greater then the others none the less.

After greeting all of her family with more hugs and kisses you could ever imagine, Judy finally faced the concerned face of her parents whilst she idled with Tala's ears and the rest of the youngsters went back to playing. They were perched on the sofa, as soft as she remembered, with Tala nestled between her crossed legs. Her parents resided opposite near the fire, Stu taking the armchair whilst Bonnie leaned against the wall.

"What's going on, you scared me half to death!"

"I know and I'm sorry, I just had to come home, work was becoming to much." Judy said, partially telling the truth.

"You can't just run away from your job, Judy. You could get into huge trouble."

"I'd rather that than the alternative." Judy replied.

"And what alternative is that?"

Judy bit her lips furiously, looking away from her scolding parents. _I'd rather get fired than have you all mauled to death._ She wanted to say, and she then cursed herself for even thinking it.

"I just wanted to make sure you were all safe." She murmured.

"Why wouldn't we be?" Bonnie asked quietly, lowering her voice as she stepped closer. "Are you worried about the storm coming in? We have underground burrows for that, you know that."

"Storm?" Judy inquired?

"You didn't hear? It was all over the news!" boomed Stu. "Torrential rain for three days and three nights, they say! And blistering winds, and thunder and lightning. It's meant to set in tonight."

Maybe that would be enough of put off any bloodthirsty predator. Her stomach, clenched with dread, slowly eased.

"Where's Gideon?" Judy asked.

"We don't know, he's not been in touch for the best part of a week now." Said Bonnie.

"Do you have his number?"

"No."

 _Drat._

They sat in silence for a moment. "Judy, sweetheart, your ears are droopy." Bonnie murmured. "What's wrong?"

Judy just looked away, finally beginning to feel silly for rushing all this way. "I… I just…" she closed her eyes and took a breath. "I missed you all."

Bonnie looked as if she were about to say something more as she reached out her paw, her eyes turning soft, when there was suddenly a knock at the door. Judy started, frightening Tala in the process who looked up at her accusingly.

"Don't answer that." Judy rushed, setting her sister down on the floor as she moved towards the front door.

"What do you mean don't-'

And suddenly, emanating screams from multiple kittens, the lights went out and the knocking grew louder.

Everyone fell silent and moved away from the door, shuffling behind the only member of the family in a cop's uniform with her eyes looked on the door. Nobody uttered a word or even dared to breathe. After a few seconds, the knocking turned to banging, making Judy's heart leap into her mouth.

"Mom," she whispered as quietly as she could. "I want you to take everyone to the burrows as quickly and quietly as possible."

"What? Why?"

"Just do as I say."

Without taking a further order, Bonnie and Stu set to work, guiding every last family member down below. They all shuffled towards the kitchen, where the hatch was locating in the floor. Everyone apart from Judy, and unknown to her Tala.

The banging became violent now. Ducking low to the ground, Judy crawled to the small window that was on the left of the door that peaked out to the porch. She didn't know was she shaking violently until she moved the curtains out of her way. Slowly and carefully she reached up, working up every bit of courage to peek out.

To her horror, she was meant by the wild eyes of a black panther, his teeth bared and his intention clear. They stared at once another for a mere two seconds before Judy screamed and glass shattered.

Judy had never screamed so loud in her life, and when it was met by Tala's matching cry, the real horror of her situation finally sunk in.

She grabbed Tala and fled for the hatch in pursuit of her family, the panther's roar all too real.

This wasn't a game.

She was in danger and her family was in danger.

She jumped down into the burrows below, keeping the petrified Tala close to her body as she did. Desperately she tried to grab her radio, and screamed down it for her partner.

"Wilde, Wilde I need you, come in! NICK!"

The radio remained silent. Judy slammed closed the catch door above her, and dropped into the darkness below.


	17. Tunnels

**Again, I'm sorry its been a long wait, but this chapter is a little bit long for you, and the next chapter is already half done so should soon follow.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Finnick had always been curious; it was in his nature. With ears twice the size of his head, it was hard to miss even the slightest of sounds. How could he not be nosey every once in a while? After all, being a part of the fox species, it was a part of his reputation. Like Nick, he knew everything and everyone, because he simply kept an ear open. You had to in a world like Zootopia, where deep down everyone was still out for themselves and their own species. Those recent crimes had said it all. No mammal was safe, predator or prey, so really there was no harm in being a little know it all.

So, naturally, when he heard an absurd amount of crashing and banging coming from his oddly favourable bunny cop's apartment window, both of his ears pricked forward with interest. He knew where she lived, creepy or not. And he also knew that her quarters were almost always quiet, unless she was trying to get a single word into her endlessly populated family.

Finnick's nose twitched. He couldn't smell her fresh berries and carrots smell. However, he could smell Nick, a musky scent of panic and anger. It hit Finnick like a punch in the gut, and he could feel his ears fall back with involuntary nervousness. He was frozen on the pavement, and as his eyes travelled up, he caught the slightest glimpse of a red figure fleeing from the fire escape of the young bunny's home. The crashing only escalated with more violence.

"Nick," Finnick breathed, and suddenly he found himself running and leaping.

As he hastily climbed the metal bars of the fire escape, the chaos became much clearer. He could hear Hopps' frantic, petrified voice screaming for backup, particularly crying out for Nick. He had never heard such fear in her voice before, and to add to the density of her situation, whatever it might be, he could hear crying and screaming in the background. Her voice was crackly and unclear, constantly breaking up through what must have been Nick's radio.

Finnick swung himself onto the windowsill.

Nick, with his snout forced shut a creation of a predator's nightmare, was going insane. Awful growls erupted from his chest, and in his desperate need to be free, he was destroying Hopps' apartment in the process. Claw marks raked the walls, the drawers had been flung around the room, and her mattress more a mess of sheets and springs, her pillows torn apart in a shower of feathers.

Finnick cursed, and just as he hopped inside the small, devastated room, Hopps' hysterical cries died off as the radio gave nothing but white noise, the device thrown against the far corner near the door. Nick's growls grew horrifyingly louder and angrier.

"What the hell did you do, man?!" Finnick shouted, and then wasted no time in leaping onto the back of his wild friend, who was in that moment violently shaking his head from side to side on all four paws.

Finnick could feel every ounce of strength the fox below him possessed, and it was a lot. Every muscle was clenched and fuelled with the rage and panic that Finnick had never felt himself. From the tip of his tail to the drooling tip of his fangs, Nick had never been more animal in his life, and for the briefest of moments in frightened Finnick.

With great difficulty, Finnick managed to free his friend from the problematic straps of the muzzle. He immediately jumped from Nick's back, and at the same time the larger fox flopped onto his side in relief, yet his green eyes remained wide and angry.

"Get up." Finnick snapped. Nick didn't move. "Get up, you great _mutt._ "

"I'm an idiot," Nick panted, exhausted from his rage.

"Yes, I agree, but if you get up you'll be less of one."

"She has Judy. I heard her screaming. I… I woke up and I heard her screaming and I… I lost it."

Finnick kicked Nick in the ribs. "Get up so we can get your god damned rabbit."

Nick still didn't move, and Finnick forced a sigh of irritation. He didn't like sounding soft, it wasn't really his favourite card to play, but sometimes he didn't have an alternative. The clock was ticking.

"Big ears needs you, right now, and you're just lying on the floor of her apartment which you have now demolished. The least you could do right now is _get up._ "

Suddenly, both foxes looked toward the window, each pair of eyes wide in surprise. There, in the gloom, was a stout that looked as frightened as a mouse. Finnick instantly recognised him as Chad, Leo's unlikely friend.

"What?" he demanded impatiently.

"There's an attack happening at Bunnyburrow. Judy's there. She's below ground, and there's… there's a wild panther…"

"How do you know this?" Finnick snapped, his own heart beginning to race. Nick finally began to shift beside him.

"Ffion… I heard her talking on the phone. She's heading there now. Please, you have to help her."

But Nick was already shoving past the stoat and the cat that was looming in the background, jumping and fleeing from the fire escape. Chad nibbled his claws nervously, and Finnick glared ferociously. When he heard Leo mutter for them to leave, Finnick was having none of it.

"No, no way, you're coming with us."

" _What?"_

"Don't argue. Follow that damn fox to my van and lets sort this whole mess before I rip my eyes out."

* * *

If there was one thing rabbits were known for, it was panicking.

That was happening right now. All of her family trapped below ground, bodies pushed together and rippling with the frightened, panting breaths of each rabbit. She could practically hear and feel each racing heart pumped the blood and adrenaline through their veins, including her own. It was so hot, so suffocating, that for a moment Judy forgot about where she was or what was happening, just so she could remember how to breathe.

The banging and scratching from above was deafening. The petrified whimpers and soft, stunned cries of her family huddled behind her were even worse.

"What's happening?"

"Why is he doing this?"

"Can Judy do something? Call the cops?"

Judy's head hurt, and never before had she felt so alone. All of the huddled bodies behind her were relying on her, when in reality she was as frightened and clueless as she was. No one was responding to her on the radio, not even Nick, and there was no way she was going to be able to go up against a panther on her own, no matter how fast or skilled she was. This wasn't a fight she was going to win. This was something that she could only run from, and protect her family in the most cowardly way possible.

Another bang made her jump and tears clouded her eyes, her trembles of fear becoming more and more aggressive.

Tala slipped her paw gently into Judy's. Judy's looked down at the little rabbit beside her, who gazed back with pure understanding. "You're okay," she said, "Just take deep breaths, close your eyes, and you'll do the right thing. We believe in you."

Judy suddenly realised that everyone had fallen silent and were all looking at her, clearly afraid, but understanding nonetheless. Even her grandpa, the most grumpy and awkward rabbit to ever hop across this world, was watching her with nothing but utter pride.

Her family needed her.

With each bang of that door put them more and more at risk.

Judy fought away the tears and the fear with all her might, and for the first time in her life, relied on her natural instincts.

"What is one thing rabbits are good at?" she demanded, mostly to herself, yet she knew she would get a flurry of answers.

"Being scared?"

"Collecting carrots?"

"Digging?"

" _Digging_." Judy jumped and turned to face her family. "I need diggers. Mom, take dad, grandpa and all of the kids to one of the safe burrows, far away from her." Her parents didn't hesitate and began rounding up the weakest of the family, guiding them deep into the tunnels behind them. "Kelly, I need you, Tim and Tala here with me."

"Tala?" Kelly questioned, "She's too young."

"She has the power in her legs to do what has to be done." Judy argued. Tim, Kelly's husband, stepped forward after handing their daughter over to Bonnie, looking back with great worry. Kelly looked just as upset with the separation. "She'll be okay, you all will."

A moment passed. Several bangs became unsettlingly louder.

"What do we have to do?" Kelly asked, focussing.

Judy eyed the three in front of her, desperately trying to ignore the pang of guilt at bringing Tala into it. But she knew Tala wouldn't be the least bit bothered about helping her in such a desperate situation; her gleaming eyes and twitching legs confirmed it. Tim was a timid rabbit for sure, but he had big paws, which meant longer, thicker claws to rake through the hardened soil that had settled over the years. Kelly had the force in her shoulders to shove through thick mounds of soil and mud. Tala had the strength in her legs to kick away any rocks or boulders that may get in the way. It was perfect.

Judy turned to the left, pressing her paws against the wall. She teased it with her claws, and with little pressure, fragments of earth began to fall away.

"Start digging."

* * *

Finnick was driving like a maniac, so much so that Leo and Chad were screaming for him to slow down, but that was fine. Nick was beyond caring at this point. He could feel the bruises forming on his right side each time Finnick took a violent, sharp turn, left and right all the way out of Zootopia and into the suburbs. The screeching skids of the tires deafened his ears, but his eyes never left the far distance roughly in the direction of Bunnyburrow.

"You're all morons, by the way." Finnick snapped as he drove. Nick said nothing, but the pair in the back took the insult to heart.

" _Why?_ " Leo cried, clinging onto the back of Nick's seat for dear life.

"For giving that girl more information than she needed! Now look what's happened!"

"We never meant for this to happen!" Chad insisted. "We were trying to help!"

" _Why?_ " Nick barked. "Who asked you to help?!"

"You're no better, Wilde." Finnick snarled, swerving the van effortlessly onto a dirt road.

"I know."

"No you don't. Those damn instincts got Hopps and her family in danger."

" _I know."_

" _Do you?_ "

"Why do you even care so much, big ears?" Leo asked with malice.

"Because that rabbit is the one thing Nick got right, and now she might get killed because of him."

Nick let that sink in. He could picture it now, a horde of rabbits trapped below with only God knew what was above trying to get to them. He could see her face, fierce and frightened all at the same time. She must have lost all faith in him by now. He'd let her down so many times, but not like this. She was alone with an entire family relying on her, and she didn't even have her partner for advice. He'd might as well have thrown her in the deep end of a pool and walked away without giving her the advice to kick.

Stupid, stupid, _stupid!_

He couldn't even begin to imagine the fear running through her veins. Judy was strong, he knew that better than anyone, but even she had her limits.

His radio crackled a little bit, and Nick instantly grabbed it from his pocket and pinned it to his ear.

" _Di… keep… dig…_ "

"What is she saying?" Finnick asked, flicking a worried look in Nick's direction.

"Digging…" he murmured to himself, and instantly he understood. "She's digging a tunnel as a diversion."

"How could you possibly know that?" Leo said sarcastically.

Before Nick could answer, a solid two words pushed through the strained signal. " _Keep digging."_

He met Leo's accusing eyes with satisfaction. "Because I _know_ her."

Finnick chuckled despite everything. "Clever girl."

* * *

No amount of fear could get in the way of adrenaline. Everyone knew that it was fear itself that fuelled any action. Four pumping hearts, four pairs of raking, unrelenting claws, and soon an entirely new path below was created. Judy scratched, pushed and shoved against the earth, ignoring the dirt that rained on her face and threatened to blind her. She didn't have time to be blind.

At last, much to her dismay, she heard the door far back finally cave in.

"You three have to start digging right."

"What?"

"Just do it!"

The four of them pushed through the last layer of earth, falling through to a previously created tunnel that most likely belonged to the other Bunnyburrow residents. Whilst the others gathered the bearings, Judy looked left, then right, before she came to a decision. This tunnel was big. Too big. Big enough for a big cat to run through.

"Forget what I said. I need you to do something else; we can apologise to the neighbours later." She directed them to face right, and pointed to the right wall. "Dig a cove around here, and do not move until you get the signal. After that, run back to where we came from and find the others."

"What signal?" Tim asked, brushing dirt out of his eyes.

"You'll know what it is, trust me."

"Judy, what are you going to do?" Kelly asked, grabbing her paws in hers. Judy squeezed them.

"Just trust me." She whispered. "Come on, I'll help you with the cove; we don't have much time."

Judy refused to look at Tala, for her glare was piercing enough. The dug in silence, going deep enough to fit the three of them in and well out of sight. Judy pushed the guilt down deep into the back of her mind, refusing to let it distract her. She had to do the right thing, even if Tala hated the idea. It was for her own good. Her family were the ones that mattered.

Gently she pushed the trio into the gap, and began to push the mound of soil towards them, partially barricading them in. She heard the panther's roar as he struggled through the tunnels, no doubt digging his own way through to accept his size. At this rate, the whole of Bunnyburrow was going to cave in. She prayed that her ancestors had dug this warren deep enough.

"No." Tala growled.

"Don't start,"

"You're not doing this! I won't let you!"

Judy caught Kelly's eye, and the message was enough. Kelly grabbed Tala around the waist, and at the same time, Judy took off running in the opposite direction. Kelly swallowed the cry with her hand, but there was no need.

The panther plunged through the tunnel that they had made, struggling with his talon-like claws through the earth, panting and clearly exhausted. It was a wonder he could even breathe down here.

But he spotted Judy. He was tired no more.

* * *

 **Thank you for reading!**


	18. Turning Point

**Chapter 18 is up, and it's an intense one! Not many more to go now, so hold your breaths!**

* * *

"Right, fur balls, let's do this!" Finnick cried when he hopped out of his van, hesitantly followed by his two unwilling companions.

Nick didn't know where the past hour had gone, and knew full well that in a legal circumstance, it would have taken a lot longer than an hour to get here. But Finnick knew all the back roads, and sped like a champion without ever getting caught for some reason, so he wasn't one to complain and exited the vehicle with stiff legs and a pounding heart.

Nick felt a new dread envelope him. Thousands of rabbits had vacated their homes, holding onto one another nervously as they eyed one house in particular. Nick could smell Judy, her fear evident, and he wanted to punch himself a hundred times over. Her door had caved in, shattered glass everywhere, the building vacant and destroyed. That's two of Judy's homes in one night completely devastated. There was practically nothing left for use, everything decorated with claw marks, even the TV.

They found the hatch for the escape tunnels in no time, caved in and nothing but tattered wood. The roars of the panther were clear, echoing from below. For the first time in his life, Nick was no longer afraid of even the most terrifying things. He'd once outrun a larger predator than himself, savage and wild, with his tail between his legs and his mind screaming that this was not how he wanted to go. But now, his only fear was a single scratch ripping through Judy's fur and skin. His fear was waking up to an empty inbox on his phone rather than a thousand texts demanding that he be up and ready two hours before his shift. His fear was never seeing Judy, the dumb bunny who proved to be anything but, again. That thought was worse than a jaguar's fangs ripping into his throat.

"Right." Nick sounding, forcing himself to take some kind of control. "I have to go down there."

"Nope," Finnick said.

"What?"

"I said no. You have to stay up here."

"Are you kidding me?"

"I'm going down. Chad, you're coming with me.

"I have to go down! I got her into this mess!"

"Exactly, Nick." Finnick said, rounding on him and pointing at him forcefully. "And right now, she needs you up here waiting for her when this nightmare is over. We're going down there, we're going to find her family, and bring them up here where they'll be safe with you. You're not going to be on her mind right now, Wilde, only her family. Even I know that."

He wasn't wrong. Nick knew Judy all too well, and knew her family almost as well, despite having yet to meet them. She spoke of them all the time, particularly her parents, with so much love and admiration despite everything they had tried to force upon her before becoming a cop. They had evolved with Judy, opening up to a world of bunny cops and best friend foxes, and Nick knew Judy would forever love them all the more for it. She adored them for growing up in an impossible, complicated world, and loved them even more for passing it on to the next generation of the Hopps family. Judy would do anything to keep that peace, and she would do anything to protect the ones she loved, even if it meant putting herself in harm's way.

And that frightened Nick half to death.

He tried again. "I have to go down. I need to make this right."

Finnick sighed heavily. "Give me ten minutes. If we're don't appear, come down. Come on, Chad."

Nick watched helplessly as Finnick descended with Chad at his heels. Leo hissed in frustration as he wondered off to the nearby rabbits sheltered together in quivering fear outside, possibly to get an understanding of what exactly had happened. All the while, Nick listened in utter dread as the snarls from below continued, and after a few minutes, his ear twitched at the sound of distant sirens.

Whilst his stomach flipped with relief, his nose jerked in disgust.

He turned, almost reluctantly, and walked towards the broken down door of the house, ducking as he did. His stomach churned when he spotted a flash of red far ahead in the ever-dimming evening light, slinking in the gloom with intentional slyness. He could feel a snarl rumbling from his gut before he could even stop himself, his inner rage unbearable.

He pushed it deep down and took a breath, peeking back to the door on the ground. He was no use here, no use to anyone.

But Ffion didn't know he was here. If she thought she was going to have her way with Judy without Nick getting involved, she had another thing coming.

He swallowed, taking the snarl back down his throat, and skulked into the shadows just as a rumble of thunder quaked the land.

* * *

It didn't take long for Finnick and Chad to find the Hopps family. They were huddled together at the very end of a tunnel deep below ground, so far in fact that Finnick almost missed their scent. And boy were they frightened, all of them with wide eyes and hearts racing a thousands miles an hour. It was so hot where they were, their stress taking its toll on them, and Finnick briefly thought about how they may have found them in the knick of time.

He could only assume that the two rabbits in front, guarding the horde behind them of at least twenty, were Judy's parents. He promised them that everything was okay and they himself and Chad were there to help, but it took them a moment to come around.

"Did she send you?" said her father.

"No," Finnick said. "I'm a friend of Nick's."

"Ah," the elder rabbit looked down to his feet. "I should never have listened to her."

"She'll be okay, darling. Let's just get everyone up there and safe." Said Judy's mother gently. Finnick nodded in agreement, gesturing for them to walk ahead of him and the stoat.

"Wait," called one of the little rabbits, no older than eight. "What about mom?"

And that was when Finnick realised that for Judy to dig tunnels, she would have needed help. That meant there were more of her family down here, scattered from the rest and lost in endless tunnels. He couldn't go back up knowing that, not if he wanted to keep his already small conscience from shrinking further for the sake of his pride. He knew he would hold this whole ordeal against Judy once she was out of this mess and his reputation would be enraptured, but right now, he wanted to do the right thing and stand by Nick and his friend.

He ordered Chad to take the rabbits to safety whilst he searched for the three missing bunnies, minus Judy. Right now he knew that that bunny could take care of herself for the time being.

After walking carefully through the long dark tunnels, relying on his excellent eyesight alone, it didn't take him long to come across the sound of soft, worried murmurs and hard, rugged sobbing. He stopped, waiting, as the sounds became louder to his ears the closer they got, not wishing to startle them.

Granted, when the three of them came into view from the gloom, they eyed him with strong distrust. They looked like a little family of three, a doe, a buck and a kitten, but they didn't look the same. The doe had golden eyes, knowing and concerned, but with the same protectiveness that a mother has over her kittens. The buck had eyes that looked to be almost black, his ears shorter than the average rabbit, and his snout slightly longer. But the little one, trapped between the years of a kitten and a doe, was an image of Judy, and for a moment Finnick had to blink.

"It's alright," he assured them, "I'm here to help."

"Little foxes like you aren't to be trusted." The doe said with distaste, keeping a tight hold on the kitten beside her.

"Perhaps in Zootopia you'd be right, but right now what choice do you have?"

The adults eyed one another uncertainly, until the sound of loud, almost deafening sirens of the cops from up above raced towards them. After another moment of deliberation, they stepped forward, but what happened next even took Finnick by surprise.

The kitten took off running in the opposite direction, screaming for Judy.

" _Tala, no!_ " screamed the doe, but Finnick raced past her and after the kitten.

"Get above ground, I'll get the kid! _Go!"_ he bellowed but didn't look back to check if they followed his instruction, desperate to keep his eyes on the kid sprinting in front of him.

 _God damn you, rabbits_ , he thought furiously, and picked up his pace, his front paws hitting the ground while his back legs powered him forward.

* * *

Nick was lurking at the edge of the woods overlooking Bunnyburrow, where Ffion had slipped silently into the darkness. He waited, calculating his next move, but his ears were twitching with sounds he couldn't decipher. He could feel the ground vibrating beneath his feet, but not just with the arrival of several police cars arriving on the other side of the valley. From this distance, he could just about make out Chief Bogo, looking as confused and angry as Nick did. But Nick didn't was to go down and explain, probably something he should have done. Instead he waited, loitering near the trees and out of sight.

He'd followed Ffion up until this point for good reason. Up here, there was another hidden hatch, no doubt the one that Judy and the panther were going to burst through any second now. He could feel the earth rumbling with the pressure of pounding feet below him, and the roars were unmistakable.

But his force weren't stupid, either. They knew, too, for one of the many cops on Nick's team was heading this way, a large gun in hand. He knew what kind of gun it was. It was compact with a net, most likely the correct size for this particular mammal, and was enough to disengage its target long enough to regain control of the situation. This was all good and dandy, but the panther was only the start of many issues caused over the last few weeks.

No one knew about Ffion, and she damn well knew it. The panther was just a decoy, and the dice was about to be rolled in Ffion's favour.

So Nick waited, seeking a decent hiding spot ready to watch the following events unfold accordingly. If he could, he would grab Judy in her haste to escape, but something told him she would be running far too fast for him to snatch. Besides, Ffion wouldn't let things be that easy for her.

He moved deeper into the woods, the glowing, flashing lights of the cars fading away with the noise. It was dark now, and drizzle began to dampen his fur coat and cool his incredible hot skin. He was so stealthy, tucking into the undergrowth and out of sight so smoothly, that the water droplets rolled off his coat as if he were made of silk.

He flexed his paws in the damp earth where he knelt, kneading it with his claws. Nose low to the ground, ears flat against his head; he was ready for a run. His eyes forever roamed, keeping an eye out for Ffion, but the chances were she already knew he was here and was baring him no mind. He knew that she would be exercising herself in the same way he was, preparing for a sprint like no other. Judy was fast, waiting for no one no matter what. Nick just needed to make sure he got her attention before the vixen did.

And then it happened.

He didn't see it, too deep in the woodland, but he heard the door fling open and the almighty roar of the panther sprint free.

He heard the shot of the gun, and the cry of surprise from the predator.

And then he heard her, feet pounding against the ground as fast as she possibly could, and he called out to her in the most earnest way he could manage.

" _Judy."_

* * *

Judy felt her feet skid to a halt, slipping on the damp leaves, and she almost fell on her front from going so fast to a sudden halt in the space of three seconds. The air was so cool and wet, fresh, compared to below ground, the rain slipping through her incredibly soft fur and wetting it in a matter of seconds. But that was the least of her worries. Her heart was pounding so hard in her chest it almost hurt, and her belly and chest ached to the sensation of burning as he tried to catch her breath. But that wasn't what had her frozen.

A panther should have been chasing her, yet nothing pursued her. Yet even if it had, she had stopped because of one voice, and one voice alone. In her most frightening, frantic situation, one voice was still able to make her stop dead in her tracks.

She looked to her left, and right there, in the gloom, was a pair of glowing green eyes that Judy would never mistake for anyone else. They shone with knowing and sorrow, yet twinkled with recognition and hope. The familiarity of them took her breath away, and a flash of memories came flooding back to her, pushing aside all the doubt, all the fear and all of the confusion of the last few days. She remembered the sly, witty conversations, the adrenaline as they ran together, the knowing in their eyes as they acted out a plan to change the end game. She remembered the fun and the laughter, the hurt and the pain, but none of it mattered in that moment.

Nick had come back. He'd come back for her.

She edged towards him, reaching out a tiny paw. He moved ever so slowly, coming into what little light was left, and his face was the most grave she had ever seen it. She moved again, the leaves crunching beneath her weight and disrupting the awful silence that separated the two of them.

"I…" he began as she moved ever so carefully towards him, unable to take her eyes off his. "I'm so sorry, carrots." His voice was barely above a whisper. "I'm here, I'm right here,"

He was. He was right there, waiting for her, watching her, and coaxing her over to safety.

"Nick," her voice was verging on a sob, and it hurt her throat.

"Come on, carrots, let's get out of here, just a few more steps."

The shock was wearing off, and Judy found her self closing the distance between them just a little more. Nick was moving, too, and it was only a matter of seconds before they would be running at one another. She could already feel his warmth, safely wrapped in his arms where nothing could hurt her, and all the strain would simply go away in that one single embrace.

A twig snapped, breaking the silence, and it wasn't from either Judy or Nick.

Judy froze for a second before she looked behind her, Nick fleetingly forgotten.

But there, in the small clearing of the woods with police lights flashing in the distance, was her little sister Tala. She was frozen, paralysed by the fear of the rabbit, and she wasn't looking at Judy. She was looking to her right, in the darkness, and Judy took in a sharp breath. She saw the glowing golden eyes, and Nicks voice trying to regain her attention, tainted with worry, but Judy was already too far gone to listen.

"Run, Tala." She said sternly.

"Judy…" Tala whispered, her voice trembling.

"Tala, listen to me, run to me right now,"

But Judy knew that wasn't going to happen.

The breakage of the shrubs was enough to spring Judy towards her sister, and suddenly she felt a power she had never felt before. She heard Nick bellow her name and break from his hiding place, no doubt running after her, but he wasn't quick enough.

Ffion came springing out of the bushes with a bark of accomplishment, leaping straight for the little paralysed rabbit hunched on all fours. Judy screamed and leapt herself up with her strong legs, flinging them forward just as she lined herself up with the vixen. She kicked forward, mid-air, with all of her might, and her feet slammed harshly into Ffion's side. There was enough power there to fling the fox away and into the mud beyond.

" _Run, Tala, run!"_ she cried, pushing the young rabbit into motion. Tala sprinted, finally out of her trance, with Judy hot on her heels. Judy risked looking over her shoulder to see Ffion shaking over the blow, barking at her with fury. She went running at them again, but not before Nick's body went crashing into the side of hers, both foxes toppling to the ground in a heavy, angry heap.

Judy heard a cry of pain, a yelp that pierced her ears, but Ffion was in hot pursuit once more.

"Keep running," she screamed to her sister, " _keep running!_ "

They were both running on all fours, just as they were meant to before evolution, and the speeds they reached were incredible. She could feel muscles working that she didn't even know she had, from her shoulders to her thighs, even in her fingers and toes, but Ffion was faster.

" _Cliff!"_ Tala shrieked, and took such a sharp left that it made Judy choke on a scream. She slammed her heels into the earth, desperate to halt and turn, and she did so with her heart in her mouth and her foot teasing the open air over the precipice. Her claws dug into the soil for grip, but it was too late.

Ffion was on her, her teeth working her ankle in a painful grip. She screamed, Ffion having no noticed the cliff side, and Judy felt her slipping. She dug at the dirt, biting through the pain, and something possessed her to look up.

Nick sprinting towards her, Tala turning in confusion a few feet to her right, and the trees above disappearing as she fell. Nick's cry followed her down.

" _JUDY!"_

The sound of rushing water and wailing air was all she heard as she plummeting to the ground, Ffion right beside her and screaming in horror.

* * *

 **The next chapter will be up as soon as possible!**

 **Don't forget to review!**


	19. Nick and Judy

**Just a few more chapters to go people, thank you very much for reading, favouriting and following, it really means a lot!**

* * *

The cold hit Judy like a slap in the face, and the water carried her light body weight like it was nothing more than a doll. She tried to thrash against the strength of the current, but it was no use, and all she could do was let it carry her to whatever destination it desired. When she wasn't gasping for precious air above, she was being flipped and beaten down below. She could practically feel the bruises forming each time she hit a boulder, and her lungs pained her as they screamed for the air they needed.

Finally, as she shook with cold and disorientation, she felt herself wash up onto a somewhat shore. She felt weightless, like she was nothing. Her cheek felt cool, her fur wet and dirty with mud. It felt as if the scars on her cheek from all those years ago were on fire, like it was a reminder that she was in this situation merely because of what she was. Prey. No matter what, she would always be prey, and out there would always be a predator who believed in the old ways.

She tried to lift herself, but every muscle burned with the attempt. She flopped back down in defeat, silent tears rolling from her eyes before falling into the now calm water. She counted to ten, and tried again.

Again.

Again.

Again.

At last she stumbled to her feet, her legs wobbling terribly and her paws shaking beyond control. She counted again before she took a hesitant step forward, willing her strength back as well as fighting the terrible chill of the water. Her clothes weighed her down, heavy with wet and feeling most uncomfortable, but the pressure of them kept the pain away as her body began to bruise.

But it was too much too soon, and she fell to her knees whilst trying to catch her breath.

Behind her was a very gentle, mocking giggling, and Judy closed her eyes with one last breath of defeat.

"Poor Judy," Ffion cooed, but her voice sounded as strained and exhausted as Judy felt. "All alone, with no one to help her, with only a fox for company. Do you really think that uniform will save you now?"

Judy's paw hovered over the mock gun on her belt, which had remarkably survived this whole ordeal up until now.

"Don't bother," Ffion said from behind her. "I know it's a dud."

Judy let her arm fall limp, and spoke without turning. "Why me? What did I ever do?"

"Don't you see it, rabbit?" Ffion replied, her voice thick with venom. "The way mammals look at the two of you? It's not right! Zootopia is divided for a reason, predator and prey share a world but don't mix, that's just how it is, and then there's you two."

"Me and Nick?"

"The way you're always together, solving crimes together, having _milkshakes_ together; it's disgusting."

Judy cried out in pain when she was hit with great force, rolling her through the dirt with a harsh thud as she came to rest. Ffion's claws had sliced through the fabric of her shirt on her back, scratching her skin in the process.

"We're friends and work partners," she rasped. "It's what friends and work partner's _do_."

"You should have stayed in Bunnyburrow where you belong." Ffion snarled. Judy heard her feet, all four of them, slamming into the ground as she lunged for her, and acted as quickly as her body would allow. She swivelled where she lay, rolling only her back and kicked out just as Ffion was almost on her. Her long feet slammed into the vixen's chest, sending her sailing backwards and rolling painfully into the water.

Judy's feet thumped into the ground as she rolled onto her side, panting into the mud. From her corner of her eye, she saw Ffion get back up and shake herself free from the wet and mud, snarling in frustration as she did.

"I thought it would be fun going for one of your little bunny friends," she rasped. "But I know now that you were a much better prize. So stubborn, even now, its almost admirable if not stupid."

And then Judy heard a growl that didn't come from Ffion. Afraid, heart hammering against her chest, she rolled onto her front and attempted to pull herself forward, but she soon stopped when she realised who the owner of the growl was.

A shadow loomed over her, and the rain suddenly stopped falling on her and she could feel warmth radiating from above. In front of her, on either side, were two red paws, claws extended and raking the earth in anticipation. She quivered as another growl broke free from above her, louder and much more dangerous than the first. Hot breaths fell upon her, so close they ruffled the fur on her head. She dared to look up, just as a bushy red and brown tail swished towards her, almost acting as a shield.

Nick had somewhat transformed from who was on top of he cliff. His teeth were bared, glistening in the dark with dangerous intention, and his ears were so flat against his head it looked like he didn't have any. Like Ffion he was down on all fours, shielding Judy with the entirety of his body. She was safe beneath him, and he was crouched low, not allowing any space for Ffion to somehow grab her.

But he wasn't savage like he had pretended to be all that time ago. His eyes were wide and wild, but rather slightly slit and locked on one target alone. His body was stiff, full of control and adrenaline, and it was nothing that Judy had ever seen before. Had she not known him or been in this situation, she would have been afraid of him. His clothes were torn and tattered, like he had been in a brawl not too long ago, something that Judy found hard to believe. But then again, she never thought she would see him like this.

She looked back at Ffion, and she looked frightened, too, but only for a moment.

"Incredible." She murmured in disbelief, shaking her head. "For you to act like the animal you are, you have to be protecting your main enemy. That's astounding."

Nick trembled as another growl ripped from his throat, and he ducked even lower to the ground like he was working up the power to a pounce.

"Ooh, that was almost frightening." She mocked, but Judy didn't miss the jump in her voice.

"Got more than you bargained for, huh?" she said bitterly, struggling to her knees from where Nick shielded her.

"You trained him well." She replied with the same bitterness, never taking her eyes off Nick.

"Careful, vix," Nick said, finally speaking. "You're already afraid, I can smell it."

"Oh, _bite me."_ Ffion snapped, shaking herself again but rather out of frustration. She crouched, growling uncontrollably, and suddenly Nick was jumping forward, hiding Judy from view entirely.

"Is this what you've become, Wilde, a fox who runs with rabbits and not give it a second thought? Would you really give your life for _her?_ Don't lie to me; you've never been in a fight you're entire life, do you really want to take that risk?"

Nick snarled in response, his back legs backing into Judy, gently pushing her further away from the vixen and out of danger. Judy was on her feet, holding on to Nick's stiff leg, trying to whisper to him assuring words. He wasn't listening. She didn't want him to fight. She didn't want him to do anything like this. She couldn't bare the idea of him getting hurt because of her, and if she stalled them for as long as she could, the ZPD would take control of the situation anyway.

"Nick," she whispered. "Listen to me, you don't have to do this. We can walk away from this, together, without getting hurt. I don't want you to get hurt."

Nick's ear moved ever so slightly, indicating that he had heard her, and Ffion let out a chuckle as she slowly crawled closer, licking her lips in anticipation.

"That's it, listen to your bunny, and see how that works out for you."

"Get back, carrots." Nick said in a strained voice, not looking at her.

"No, Nick…"

"Get _back-_ " he never finished, because Ffion sprang at him, and suddenly they were a heap of claws and teeth rolling through the dirt.

Judy screamed in horror as she watched the nightmare unfold before her, the two foxes going for one another's throats that it was the last thing they would ever do. Fangs grabbed flesh, claws raked through fabric, and growls and barks of pain broke the silence of the night. They wrestled like animals for no more than thirty seconds, but it would enough to make bile rise in Judy's throat.

She jumped back when their crashing bodies came falling down on her, and Nick had never looked more dangerous. He nipped at Ffion's ear, yanking hard and causing her to yelp in pain. But she flipped onto her back beneath him and began to rake at his abdomen, causing him to whimper like a wounded wolf. He jumped away, panting, yet circled her with those same aggressive eyes.

"Nick-" Judy choked on a sob as she watched helplessly. She could see that he was bleeding, and there was nothing she could do.

No. She could do something. Her and Nick were in everything together, no matter what, because they were partners. _Partners._ Despite everything, he had come back for her, and was putting his life on the line for her, and dammit she was not just going to sit back and _watch._

She shook herself of the wet that weighed her down, grit her teeth against the burning pain in her right leg where Ffion's bite lingered, and started sprinting.

She closed the distance between herself and the foxes in no time. Ffion was cowered before Nick, snarling viciously as he growled over her, every strand of fur standing on end with a rage she had never seen before. But she didn't have time to focus on that, for she was no better. She could feel every strand pushing against the back of her shirt, and there was so much anger in her veins, all of it directed towards this one individual. It was enough to fuel her into a raging fire if that had been the case.

Almost blinded by the rain, which was now hammering to the ground like a sea of endless bullets, Judy leapt onto Nick's back and slid down his spine, his soaked shirt acting as a slide. She then pounced from the crown of his head, jumping straight into the way of Ffion's jaws. Faster than any animal, she wrapped her arms around the vixen's neck as if giving her a hug, but it was far from it. her claws dug deep, and her legs began to pound into Ffion's chest with all of the strength she had left in her system.

Ffion began to shake herself with violent intent whilst Judy clung on, reaching up to pull at the vixen's ears. Judy cried out when her back slammed against the ground, knocking the breath out of her, but she kept on resisted, distracting her enough to allow Nick to regain his strength. It was a sight that no one would have ever seen, a rabbit fighting head on with a fox, and whether Judy lived or not, it would most certainly go down in history with the slogan _Zootopia's most stubborn rabbit._

She hit the floor several more times before she started to lose her grip, held on by her claws latched through the fabric of Ffion's blouse, which was now beyond shredded. Judy climbed, her paws clawing at her scruff whilst her long legs scratched at her snout.

"Get off me you little _rat!_ "

And then Judy was sailing through the air, Ffion having flung her off with one swipe of her head, yet it was enough. Judy rammed into the trunk of a tree and hit the ground in a heap, her ears ringing and her eyesight nothing but a sheet of white. She felt every bone in her body rattle, and with one breath of pain, she slipped into darkness.

* * *

Nick saw Judy's body on the ground, limp and unmoving, and it terrified him. Her attack had happened so quickly it took him by surprise, and in a blink she was on the ground and unmoving. All he wanted to do was run over to her and lift her, run away with her, but he knew he had to finish this before he could do anything else. He hurt everywhere, his chest on fire where Ffion's had clawed him, and he could feel himself swaying with exhaustion. He was nearly done, almost ready to drop, but not quiet. He wasn't a fighter, never had been, but that didn't mean he was about to give up.

"Just think, Nick," Ffion panted, pulling her eyes and Nick's attention away from Judy. "You could walk away from all of this. You can walk away from her. Throw in the towel on the cops, re-evaluate your hustling skills, and we could leave this place. We could start our own business somewhere else; we'd make a good team, you and I."

"A business? Or attacking prey mammals?" Nick replied, glaring furiously. She smiled at him.

"You have instincts for a reason, Nick. What you felt before all of this could become a reality. Come away with me; I'll leave the bunny alone. I'll stop everything, leave my organisation and start a new one with you. We could be amazing together, you know we could."

"What organisation?" Nick spat. The least he could do was get a confession out of her, just like he was trained to do with any criminal, but even he knew it was for his own closure rather than for justice. He needed to know why all of this mess happened, what organisation it was that drew the line between him and Judy and brought them both to this. He had to know if, to Ffion, it was even worth it.

"Oh, wouldn't you like to know." She cooed. "It's bigger than you and me, bigger than anything. It's not something you want to get involved in."

"You're lying."

"Am I? Believe what you want, Nick, but my offer still stands. Are you truly telling me that you enjoy this life, as a goody two shoes cop in a fancy uniform and a bunny as your partner?"

"It's a life," he replied, "I'd rather live a happy life than stalk around in spite for the new society with my tail between my legs and a guilty conscience."

Ffion glanced over to the unconscious rabbit once more, smiling ever so slightly, and she almost looked admirable.

"She really got to you, didn't she?" she murmured, sounding soft for the first time that evening.

"Yeah, she really did." Nick agreed, backing up ever so slightly. His legs began to ache, and he so desperately wanted to stand on two legs rather than four, too used to the common way. The way that Ffion prowled, snout low to the ground and her eyes slit as they zoned in on their target, told Nick that it was rare for her to be on two feet. She was much more at home with being a naturalist, preferring life on all fours and fantasising about a predator life she never had. She relied purely on the instincts mammals had outgrown, and there was simply no going back for her. He couldn't persuade her to change her life and live a better one, he knew that, but she certainly wasn't about to deter him from a world he was content in.

"A shame," she said, sounding sad. "I really did like you."

"How unfortunate for me, huh?" Nick said, letting his sarcasm drip from his tongue one last time, just for old times sake.

And then the both of them froze, the sound of shouting loud and clear. He could hear his name being called, Judy's name, both by their last and first names, and a spark of hope lit in his chest. He looked to Judy, hopeful, but she hadn't moved an inch from the last time he had looked. Her back was to him; her ears limp in the mud, her paws unmoving. He couldn't even see her face, but knew her eyes were closed.

That was all it took for Ffion to make her last move, crashing into him with all of her might, no matter how much smaller she was than him. She knew his weakness, she knew when his guard was down, and she wasn't a team player. She played unfair, just like every fox ever born.

They brawled, fabric ripping from teeth and claws, their animalistic growls loud and frightening. But Nick barely laid a paw on her, just allowing her to be distracted for as long as possible. He blocked her attacks, pushed against her without the aid of his claws, and did all he could to keep her attention on him and not on Judy.

She was alive. Her heart was beating, very steady, but it was beating.

Ffion heard it, too.

"No!" Nick cried, and was suddenly running after her, in the direction of the rabbit that was in no state to protect herself.

Nick ran of two legs, shouting for her to stop, but the vixen was far from listening. Nick jumped and grabbed hold of her tail, yanking hard and knocking her off her feet entirely, just inches away from Judy's long, limp ears.

Keeping hold of her tail, Nick dragged himself over her before kicking her harshly in the face, enough to make her back off for those few valuable seconds. He pulled himself over Judy, careful to avoid her head, and lay down, shielding her with his body once more. He growled lowly, his tail swishing angrily, and he rested his snout in the curve of Judy's neck, keeping that protected, too.

Both animals exhausted, Nick could do nothing else but lie there, protecting her in the last way he could. But he knew he didn't have to fight anymore.

He closed his eyes when Ffion when for a final assault, swishing his tail in front of him in one last attempt at creating a shield, but the blow never came.

"Shoot!" cried Chief Bogo, and the sound of a net gun rang loudly in Nick's ears. He kept his eyes closed, not willing himself to greet this new, more controlled chaos, and just focussed on the warmth of Judy sheltered beneath him.

He heard Ffion scream in protest, but still he refused to open his eyes.

He didn't open them until he felt a hoof on his back, nestled between his tense shoulder blades, and he stiffened protectively.

"Easy, Wilde, you're alright now," murmured his chief, the gentlest he had ever heard him since he started work as a cop, and finally he opened his eyes. He didn't look for Ffion, didn't take in his surroundings, but stared helplessly into Bogo's eyes.

And then all of the emotional and physical pain mixed with exhaustion hit him all at once, and he felt his eyes droop. Bogo called out to him, but Nick was already fading, the last thing he heard being his chief crying out for a medic.

He relaxed for the first time that evening and drifted into nothing.

* * *

 **Thank you for reading!**


	20. For the Best

**Thank you very much for your kind words from the last chapter, which was great fun to write, and now I give the longest chapter I have written to date!**

 **Brace yourselves, heartstrings will be pulled...**

* * *

Seeing Judy fall from that cliff had had Tala screaming so loud she thought her lungs might have burst out from her chest. It was a moment she would never forget, and a moment she vowed to never relive. The look on Judy's face, a mix of confusion and fright, yet not a sound escaped her lips, was horrifying as she disappeared into the mist. She had thought it was a dream, a terrible, terrible dream, but the growl of remorse that had ripped from the fox that fell down with her was all too real.

Yet nothing was quite more horrifying than the fox beside her, the fox she had heard so much about but had never met. The look of his face was unforgettable. Ears fallen back in fear, his eyes wide and green and petrified, and his cry for her sister utterly heart breaking. That was how she knew him. His face. His face gave everything away, played a picture of what her sister meant to him in one expression alone.

And then the little white fox appeared who she would later learn to be Finnick, Nick's once upon a time ally and friend. He had run up behind Tala and grabbed her around her middle, holding on so tight it was as if he thought she had the strength of a rhino. But she didn't move an inch, only wobbled with Finnick's hasty grasp. It had been silent other than Nick's heavy panting beside them as he stared down in disbelief over the cliff, as if waiting for Judy to be climbing up the side of it.

The two splashes that rippled through the air proved that wasn't going to happen.

"No…" Finnick breathed, sounding so low for someone with such a low voice. He finally understood, and Tala began to cry, blinded by thick, relentless tears whilst the shock paralysed her body.

"She's alive." Nick simply said in a gruff yet certain voice, as if holding back tears of his own. Tala looked at him in vain surprise, but the fox was already running.

"And where the hell are you going?" Finnick shouted, but he never got a reply as Nick disappeared into the woods, unnervingly fast. Tala could feel the confliction in Finnick, his paws slacking on her as if he wanted to take off running after the red fox. She could have shuffled out of his grip if she wanted to, but she was trying to decide if Judy really could have survived the fall, and if so, what next? If she survived it, so would that vixen, and what then?

"I want to go, too." Tala said at last, wiping her eyes. "I need to find her."

"No way, kid, I'm taking you straight back home."

"She _needs_ me." Tala protested. "She needs her family."

"What are you to her? Niece? Daughter? Sister?"

"Sister."

"Then you have a mom to get back to, and you rabbit moms are vicious creatures. Come on, I'll find Nick after."

But Tala refused to move, standing her ground as she stared with empty eyes in the direction that Nick had disappeared. But then again, Finnick didn't try to move her, either, probably as torn as she was. She couldn't go back without her big sister. Their mother would never allow it, and would come here herself if she had to. Baring that in mind, her parents were probably already on their way, calling out to their lost daughters among the many, as frightened as everyone else at what could have happened.

"Please." she said in a broken whisper.

Finnick sighed heavily, looking grimly at her. His insanely large ears twitched constantly with the slightest sound, but one noise in particular snatched his attention. In seconds, Tala was hearing it, too. It was shouting, mammals calling out for those lost; Judy, Nick and Tala. Tala looked at Finnick, who seemed to be in deep thought, planning their next move.

"No funny business, all right, kid? You do exactly what I say, when I say it." he said at last.

"Fine." She agreed without hesitation, and they made their way after Nick.

They saw everything. Finnick kept hold of Tala the entire time, clearly not trusting her at all, and rightly so. Never before had Tala wanted to get into a fight as much as she did then. She saw everything from the moment Nick stood over his sister with protectiveness she had never seen before. And Judy saw it, too, and was as taken aback as Tala and Finnick.

They were hidden in the undergrowth, Finnick's eyes never shifting from the scene unfolding, yet his grip firm on Tala beside him. They had practically jogged the way down here, Finnick using his ears for guidance, and after following the river for about five minutes Nick's growl greeted them from the shadows. Finnick had snatched Tala like she weighed nothing at all, shielding her in the bushes and at a safe distance. He pressed a nail to his mouth and his eyes were daring, so despite herself Tala remained still and quiet, like she was told.

But it was so hard. After the fleeting moment of joy that her sister was alive, dread soon took over.

She wanted to help Judy the moment she attacked the vixen in Nick's defence, but it was over seconds after it started. She had that trunk so hard that even Finnick cringed and momentarily closed his eyes, and for a brief moment he even looked like he wanted to run out and help. But what on earth could they do? The two predators were much larger than them, and in far more aggressive minds. They'd only get in the way if not very hurt.

But Nick was bleeding, and his exhaustion was evident. He sounded so tired and hurt when he spoke back to the vixen, even when he tried to be sarcastic, wincing with each word. He was wobbly, too, even on all fours, and the vixen wasn't all that much better. But she was better than him in that moment in time, despite her own wounds. From here, Tala made out a scratched eye and wounded neck, and a slightly torn ear. But she had so much anger fuelling her, more than Nick, and it took one look away to over power him.

Yet he protected her sister to the bitter end, refusing to let her claws so much as touch an ear. He was so desperate to keep her safe he lay over her, now sheltering her from view, and it was in that moment that everyone's prayers were answered.

The vixen went for one final attack, and in the next moment she was trapped and twisting violently in a net, screaming for her freedom.

Tala bolted before Finnick could figure out what was going on. "Kid, no!"

There were officers everywhere, all over the place, torch lights blinding and ordering voices deafening. She avoided all of it and ran straight for the now unconscious duo, calling out to her sister who she still couldn't see because of Nick's body. A buffalo, presumably the one in charge of this operation, was bellowing for a medic, and never saw Tala's approach.

She skidded to her knees, her trousers instantly soaked and filthy from the mud, and stared at the two unconscious police officers.

Nick lay with his eyes closed, his cheek nuzzled in the crook of Judy's neck. If not for the circumstances, anyone would have thought they were sleeping. For a moment, Tala was taken aback by the peacefulness, and gently reached out to Nick's face, but thought better of it and pulled back. Instead she nestled herself on the other side of his tail and assessed the pair.

Very carefully she lifted Nick's snout up with her paws, her nose twitching at what she saw. Awful wounds bled through his white fur, but it wasn't anything too serious, yet he would most likely need stitches. But when she looked at Judy, Tala knew exactly what was wrong with her.

She was breathing very hard, and her eyes were open but unseeing.

"Hey!" shouted Finnick, racing through the cops trying to control the vixen, who was still thrashing about violently in her net.

"Move him." She said stiffly when he reached her.

"What?"

"Move Nick!" she shouted, frantic now. "She's in shock!" she turned to the ZPD mammals. "Somebody help! My sister's in shock!"

Moments later, without question, Finnick and a wolf dragged Nick as carefully as possible off of Judy, freeing her for examination. Rabbit shock was series, as if it wasn't caught and treated quickly, she was going to lose her life. Everyone knew this and were taking no chances. Flipping her cautiously onto her back, Tala whispered reassuring words to her whilst the medic, a grave looking beaver, wrapped her gently in blankets.

"I'm right here, sis," Tala whispered as she held her limp head up, aiding the medic in coaxing water into her mouth. "I'm right here. Nick's here, too. You're both okay, just stay with me Judy, we'll get you better."

"Carrots?" came a groan, and when Tala looked back, Nick's heavy eyes met hers. He blinked, looking confused, until they fell on her sister beside her. "Carrots?!"

"Nick, she's fine, she's going to be fine-" it was Finnick talking, trying to block his view in the process, yet with such a deep voice he sounded anything but consoling. Beside her, Judy coughed against the water gently washing down her throat and she shivered. She went unconscious again, her head limp and rolling into Tala's chest. Her breathing slowed, and the medic confirmed that her pulse was normal again.

"She needs a hospital, Chief, or she'll go into shock again. She has to be monitored." the medic informed the looming buffalo, who looked solemn.

"Judy!" Nick cried, outright panicking now. Judy was being put on a stretcher, Tala keeping tight hold of her paw, but her heart broke as she listened to Nick's protests and sheer worry. "No, I have to go with her! I can't leave her, not again!"

"Go on, kid," Finnick shouted when he saw her hesitating, trying to keep Nick at bay whilst the other officers began to intervene. "I've got this."

Her ears drooping with uncertainty and guilt, Tala followed the gurney, establishing her relationship to Judy and asking for a phone, needing to get in touch with her parents. She looked back one last time, but she couldn't see Nick anymore, only his shouts for her sister. She dropped her chin to her chest and followed the medic quietly.

* * *

The last thing Nick remembered was watching the doors of the ambulance van close on Judy, before he felt a sting in the side of his neck and slipped into darkness.

When he awoke again, he was groggy and uncertain, all of his muscles stiff and his throat felt hoarse. He could hear the rain outside, hammering against what must have been a window, and reluctantly he opened his eyes. He was propped up in a bed with white sheets in a small, pale room, and by his side sat Chief Bogo, who looked annoyingly pitiful. He looked down, noting that he had bandages wrapped from his hips to his lower chest, his shirt absent and his trousers wrecked, like rags on his legs. His head was pounding, but when he closed his eyes through a wince, he could only think of one thing.

"Where is she?" he asked, his voice croaky.

"Safe and well, but asleep. You can see her in a moment, but I need a word." Bogo replied, and the relief that washed over Nick felt like a thousand bricks had been lifted off of him. But he could guess what was coming. Him and Judy being positively reckless, that they were told not to get too far involved, that they were incredibly stupid and moronic and-

"I'm sorry." Bogo said, carefully watching Nick's expression.

"Huh?"

"I'm sorry for asking Judy to get involved, and you. I'm sorry for being an irresponsible chief, Wilde, I need you to know that."

"Sir, I…" but Nick was lost for words, and instead closed his mouth and let the surprise take over his expression. Bogo actually chuckled at it.

"I nearly lost two of my best cops tonight, and I will regret that for the rest of my life." He said solemnly. "I asked far too much from you, and look where it got the pair of you? And Hopps' family, too."

"It's not over, sir," Nick said, struggling to sit up. "Ffion said there's an organisation, a big one."

Bogo nodded. "I know, and were working on closing that network as of now. But not you two. I'm giving you both a month's paid sick leave; that should be enough time for the both of you to recover, see a specialist if need be."

"That won't be necessary." Nick protested.

"It's the least I can do." He said sternly, his authority creeping back into his voice. "Now, can you walk, fox?"

The walk down the hall was agonisingly long, and Nick was an impatient fox. He winced several times, clutching his midriff, and his mangled shirt hung hopelessly from his shoulders. It was only a small hospital, mostly occupied with rabbits, so must have been on the outskirts of Bunnyburrow. Bogo had given him the room number, unable to follow down the halls due to his side, and remained in the larger mammal section of the hospital. His footsteps echoed, damp and squeaky with his still wet paws and none-receded claws, which would return to their dormant state in a few hours. Judging by the quietness of the building, it was the early hours of the morning, and since Nick was still wet from the rain outside, he couldn't have been here for any longer than an hour.

Finally, he found the room he was told to find, and suddenly he felt nervous. What if she was awake and afraid of him? He couldn't blame her. He knew he must have looked like a monster out there, despite the circumstances. What if she cowered away from him? She had never seen him like that… _he_ had never seen _himself_ like that. Taking a deep breath, he slyly poked his head around the doorframe and peeked in.

In a large chair, three rabbits slept. He recognised her parents from the many times their photo came up as they rang her mobile, and the third, a young rabbit, slept peacefully between them. They looked so tired and worn, almost as bad as Nick felt, but peaceful nonetheless.

Judy slept, too, but in a rightful bed. Nick had seen Judy asleep many times, often at her desk at work or in the passenger seat after a long night shift. But he had never seen her asleep in a bed before. There was something pleasant about it, seeing her in her most vulnerable, innocent state. She was attached to a heart monitor, which beeped along with her steady heartbeat, a reassuring sound. Her ears were folded back, her eyes gently closed, and her paws limp at her sides.

Slowly Nick moved to her bedside, careful not to wake her sleeping family. Upon closer inspection, he could see small plasters dotted here and there, one on her shoulder, one on the tip of her left ear, and possibly hundreds more in places he couldn't see. Her wrist was bandaged, probably sprained. Yet she slept silently, not dreaming, just swimming in darkness. He knew when she was dreaming; she twitched an awful lot.

Gently, the most gentle he had ever been in his life, he smoothed a scruffy bit of fur on the crown of her head. His paw trailed to the fuzzy area of fur behind her unwounded ear, before working its way to cup and cheek and fold around her neck. She didn't stir, but sighed deeply, falling further into her slumber. Nick smiled, something he hadn't done for a long time, and it felt odd now.

What had brought them to this?

He shook his head slightly, not wanting to go down that road. She was safe. She was alive and safe because he went back for her when she needed him. He would never forget the look on her face before the cliff, when she saw him in the shrubs and the tears of relief that strained her vision. It was a look that told Nick she still believed in him, even now, and it was the most reassuring thing he ever witnessed.

But there was something else that nagged at him. It was a small thing, yet it spoke a thousand words to him. He remembered smelling her fear as he prowled behind her, both hers and Ffion's, and of course that was to be expected. But she did something she was probably very unaware of doing. The moment he stalked over her and realised who he was, her heart rate had slowed and her scent drifted from fear to something else. She wasn't afraid of him. In a moment he had been most feral around her, most dangerous, he couldn't smell an ounce of fear on her, only Ffion.

He pulled his paw away and sighed, smiling slightly at the detail as it replayed back to him. She wasn't scared of him, not even a little. She _trusted_ him.

"Mr Wilde, right?" the voice started him so much he almost jumped out of his skin. He hastily moved away from Judy's side when he realised her father was awake, rubbing at his eyes groggily. He moved from the chair, rearranging the youngest rabbit so that she snuggled into his wife's side. "Tala told me about what you did."

"Tala?" he asked, glancing at the youngster.

"Judy's sister; my daughter, if you will." Her father established.

"W-what did she tell you, sir?"

He smiled tentatively. "That you saved my little girl's life out there. Tala told me you almost gave your life for my Judy; is that true?"

Nick looked back at Judy, remembering his actions from start to finish in order to protect her. "I guess I did."

"Then I have to thank you, Mr Wilde."

"Nick," Nick corrected. "Please, call me Nick. Mr Wilde is my dad."

"You Nick, me Stu." He replied, and Nick smiled nervously. If Judy was awake, he knew that she would have been laughing at him right about now. "I need to ask you to do something, though."

"What is it?"

"I need you to go back to the city."

Nick's gut instantly ordered him to say _no, not in a million years,_ but the look on Stu's face kept him silent for a moment longer than he intended. "Sir… Stu, I can't do that. I can't leave her again."

"I know, and I also know she'll hate me for doing it. But I want her here, getting better, without the memory of tonight still fresh when she looks at you." To his credit, Stu did look remorseful, which halted Nick's anger from rising to the surface, instead his heart raced with frustration and disbelief.

"I won't tell her you left willingly, I'll tell her I sent you away. She won't hate you."

"She can hate me all she wants no matter what the circumstances, Stu, but I can't just leave her here without so much as a goodbye, not after what happened tonight." He swallowed. "I need her, and she needs me."

Stu sighed heavily. "I give you my word that I'll tell her to go back as soon as she's fit. I just don't want her suffering any more than she needs to."

"And what about him, dad? What about _his_ suffering?" it was Tala, wide-awake, clearly having listened to more than she should have. Nick stared, remarking on her incredible resemblance to Judy, right down to the stubbornness in her eyes.

But he wasn't going to argue, as much as it truly hurt him. "It's okay, I get it. She needs to be with you guys first." He looked up from her sleeping face, locking his gaze onto Stu's. "Promise you'll tell her I didn't want to go."

"I promise." He nodded.

"This isn't fair!" Tala shouted, inadvertently waking her mother. Nick smiled sadly at her.

"It's okay, kid," he said quietly. "Just look after her for me." He solemnly reached out for Judy's paw, squeezed it tightly, and then left the room as silent as the dead of night, the rain somehow sounding incredibly loud now.

When he reunited with Bogo, who was waiting quietly in the waiting room, his face said it all, or why else would he still be here? "You knew."

"I'm sorry, Wilde. I didn't want to have to tell you, but Mr Hopps was adamant of it. It's for the best." Even Bogo didn't sound convinced at his own words, meaning even he thought this was a cruel act by anyone's standards.

"It's fine." Nick muttered. "Just keep me posted, yeah?"

"I'll have an officer on site with her twenty four hours a day, I assure you."

"Good." He mumbled. "It's the least she deserves."

In begrudging silence and mute annoyance and hurt, they walked back to Nick's room to gather his things, what little there was, and discharged himself from the hospital.

The drive back was very long, very quiet, and very lonely as Bunnyburrow disappeared in their wake.

* * *

 **Don't panic! There's still at least two more chapter's to come, which will hopefully be up by Friday :)**


	21. A Talk

**Just one more chapter after this one :'(**

 **Thank you so much for all of your support, it means the world to me :3**

* * *

Five days had passed since the Bunnyburrow attack, and Judy found herself back in Zootopia.

She had woken up two days after that fateful night, yet wasn't released for another day after that. She had awoken surrounded by her family, who cued out of the door to see her; a range of all sizes and ages. Her parents never left her bedside through the visits, and on her other side lingered a silent officer, a wolf who kept his head down and his business to himself. It was then that Judy realised she wasn't an officer, but a victim, and nothing made her blood boil quite as much as that thought alone.

Yet, as she reached the cycle of her visitors, who even included Gideon Grey, a certain mammal never showed up. She knew that something was wrong, because Nick would never abandon her in her hospital bed without a reason behind it. She waited patiently on the last day for him to show up, the many rabbits surrounding her becoming a blur attached with mumbled voices, but her heart continually sank when he failed to show up.

But it didn't take her long to figure out what had happened, for Tala never stopped glaring at their father, who looked so painfully guilty it was almost pitiful. He had done something whilst she slept, wounded and alone, because he would have thought it was the right thing to do.

So, on the last evening of her stay in the hospital, she finally spoke up when the entirety of her family wondered off home. She'd asked him without missing a beat where Nick was, what had he done, and the look on his face spoke enough words.

"Why?" she'd murmured, her voice still cracked. "Why did you do that?"

"I… I didn't want him to upset you any further." He'd looked down at his feet as if he knew how silly he actually sounded.

" _Upset_ me? He saved my _life_ , dad, how could you send him away?"

"You were attacked by his own species, I just thought that…"

"Yet you'll let Gideon visit, a fox who attacked me as a kid? Yet you won't let my partner, an _officer,_ come and see me?"

"I let him see you." He'd protested. "You were sleeping. But you were so fragile, in and out of shock all night; how could I let him hang around and see you like that?" He had sighed heavily, already sensing himself losing a battle he never had a chance at winning. "I just wanted what was best for you."

"Then I'm going back if that's true."

"To Zootopia? No, I won't allow it! You're not ready-"

"You've been saying I'm not ready for anything my entire life, dad. For once in your life, just believe in me. I have to go home."

The arguing continued relentlessly into the next day, when she was taken home on a limping leg, a sprained wrist and coated in more than enough bandages and plasters. She refused to show it, but it hurt so much, even then. It felt as if she could feel every individual bone in her body, unstable and bruised in the aftermath of each blow she had suffered that night. It was so hard not to shake with the pain and tiredness, and keeping the wincing at bay was nothing short of a challenge. It even hurt to have her ears up, so she kept them down and pressed against her heavily bruised back.

Tala had helped her pack, because she wanted her to go home as much as Judy herself did. It surprised her, really. Tala had always looked up to Judy, so sending her away seemed like the last thing she wanted to do. It unnerved Judy, in truth. Something had happened to Tala to pull her in a direction she wasn't born to follow. She wasn't frightened or constantly on edge, but bold and stubborn, just like Judy was. But Judy never asked, because something told her she would find out another way as to what happened that night.

In the doorway of Judy's old bedroom, which was far away from the destruction of the front door, which was already undergoing repairs, her assigned officer knocked tentatively on the door.

"Miss Hopps?" he said, waiting for both rabbits to look up from their work of clothes and suitcases. "May I ask what are you doing?"

"I'm going home." She replied sternly, shakily rising to her feet. The officer didn't argue, but instead looked somewhat proud, perhaps even relieved.

"I'll get the car ready, ma'am."

She smiled gratefully, and looked down at Tala, who was also smiling. "I'm going home." She murmured again, more to herself this time.

"Tell Nick I said hi." Tala replied, startling Judy, just again she chose not to ask. There was only one mammal she wanted to hear from, to explain to her exactly what happened once she blacked out, and he was prowling somewhere in the streets of Zootopia, the city where she belonged.

Judy Hopps was returning home as a wounded, exhausted rabbit, yet she was going home with a strength like no animal ever known.

* * *

When she arrived at her apartment, two cases on either side of her, her heart felt like it was in her mouth. Police tape blocked the doorway, and the door itself was swinging gently on its hinges, the lock broken. Inside, her window was still open, a soft, cold breeze whistling inside and teasing small, white feathers on the ground. The room looked even bleaker than she remembered, but that wasn't without some added elements.

Her floor was coated with claw marks, and her pillow was so shredded it was beyond repair. Her duvet was flung across the room, and the bed was not perfectly aligned with the wall, the dust on the floor indicating as such. She slowly edged her way inside and pulled down the tape delicately, suddenly frightened, and tried to make sense of what had happened here. It certainly wasn't like this when she'd rushed home, which now felt like a century ago.

She grimaced when she dragged her belongings through the door, her body not allowing it. She gave them a few futile attempts before she flopped to the floor in defeat, rubbing her back and biting back the tears that burned her eyes and throat. Yet it felt good to sit, her muscles no longer straining, and she let the gentle breeze tease her face in a soothing manner, trying to ignore the devastation around her.

Facing the window, she outstretched her slightly mangled leg that was wrapped furiously in bandages, and she wondered what damage had actually been caused. She'd never been bitten before, and it was certainly a memory she was going to forget any time soon. The pain had been so real, teeth crushing bone, and for a moment she thought that maybe that cliff had actually saved her from far more damage.

She teased the bandage, testing her limit, when something glinted from the corner of her eye. Confused, she rolled onto her side and peeked beneath the bed, and something sparkled ever so faintly in the shadows yet she couldn't quite make out what it was.

She reached for it painfully, stretching her body because she tried not to move from her position on the floor, and managed to grab it. She wished she hadn't. In her paws, the straps mangled and the metal heavily scratched, was a muzzle. It was a muzzle that Nick had described from her childhood, heavy and brutal, and suddenly she felt sick to her stomach. She rose to her feet without thinking, limply keeping hold of it, and put together what must have happened.

Nick had come looking for her, but got cornered. He was muzzled, and then he panicked, hence the destruction of her room. That was why he never replied to her radio calls, because he couldn't. Instead he had been living out a nightmare he had thought was buried deep and forgotten.

"Carrots."

His voice was so real yet so gruff, like it pained him to speak. She turned slowly, still holding the monstrosity in her paws, and was met with Nick leaning against her doorframe, his head pressed against the wood and his eyes eyeing the object she held. He was wearing a button down shirt, a light blue one, but the top two buttons were undone, briefly revealing bandages beneath. And he looked so tired, the most tired she had ever seen him, but he was there and he was real.

She looked between him and the muzzle. She didn't utter a word, too angry to do so, and turned back to the window. With all of her power, she threw the muzzle straight through the window, so harshly she lost her footing and winced with the effort. She was closing and locking the window before it had even hit the ground, panting with anger, before she faced her partner once more.

His ears were up, his eyes surprised, and he was pushing himself off the frame. They stared at one another for another few seconds, drinking in one another, the past five days of separation dawning on them in that one moment. But Judy couldn't think straight. She couldn't think about how she felt, because her feet were already telling her.

Nick caught her effortlessly as she leapt at him, grunting ever so slightly with the contact. Her arms wrapped tightly around his neck, as if she was never going to let go, and she buried her face in his fuzzy throat. His arms were wrapped firmly around her, and he took a few steps inside her apartment before they began to fall, his back sliding down the wall as he hugged her to him as closely as possible. He nuzzled her, his snout hidden beneath her drooped ears, and Judy had never felt so warm. She just held onto him, crying silently into his neck, and he shared her silence. There was nothing to be said, not yet. They were back together, stronger than ever, as if they had never been apart.

Finally she was home.

* * *

"What happened, then? After I passed out?" Judy asked some time later, the pair sat comfortably in the window sill of her apartment, watching the sun go down and admiring the explosion of red, orange and blue in the sky. They sat opposite one another, facing each other, contently. Nick was pulling at the threads of his bandages protruding from beneath his shirt, and Judy was resting her wounded leg on his lap whilst the other was bent at the knee, her chin resting upon it as she gazed at the fox.

He shrugged in his familiar lazy manner, tying a tiny knot in the thread. "What's to tell? We're here, aren't we?"

"My curiosity betrays me, Wilde."

He chuckled, briefly meeting her eyes. "True. Let's see… I believe that Ffion tried to coax me into joining her and her "crew", run away into the sunset if you will, and I said no, obviously, and I guess we heard the ZPD approaching… to put it lightly, she started running for you like she wanted a really big hug and I intervened by means necessary."

"Hardy ha ha," Judy said sarcastically, lightly kicking him with her good leg. "In other words, she was going to kill me."

He didn't answer but looked at her grimly, like the thought of it physically pained him.

She sighed, rubbing her eyes with her good palm, keeping her sprained wrist tucked safely into her stomach. "Thank you, Nick. Thank you so much."

"I hardly went out and bought milk for you, Carrots; a thank you won't be necessary." This time he was the one to nudge her. "I should be the one thanking you."

"How so?"

He looked at her, his eyes full of depth and sincerity, and in the failing light the green in his orbs seemed to glow. "For believing in me when you had every right not to."

It took her a moment to respond, for his earnestness took her aback. It was rare to see him like this. He preferred to stay true to his sarcastic self, maybe less so than when they first met, but he always teased relentlessly. To see him like this, his eyes so sad and his smile absent, it was almost heart breaking. Yet in spite of everything they had been through, she had always known deep down that he would always be there for her. She never once thought that Nick had abandoned her, not for a second. His fierce love for others was not to be taken for granted, and she knew that more than anyone else in this world. He'd been beaten down and shunned in the light that was Zootopia, which had made him cynical, yet his bond with Judy was like no other. If she could get him to smile with warmth again after years of scheming and hustling and hiding behind an act, then he would never leave her side.

At last she smiled at him. "You really are a dumb fox." She giggled when he blinked with surprise. "Nick, I never doubted you. Out there, running through the tunnels with a jaguar on my tail, I never thought that you were going to leave me behind. I knew you'd find me. You said it yourself; you've got my back if I have yours."

"I know." He smiled back. "Also, thank you for not going bunny panicky on me back there; that would have really knocked my ego boost right down."

"You don't scare me." She assured him.

"Excellent."

"Though everything before that did," she mused. "When Ffion was around before all of… you know, _that."_

Nick nodded, understanding. "Instinct's a weird thing, carrots. When she was around, it was like we were both outside and everything else was in a glass box. I could see and hear everything, but I wasn't really there. There was a pull I can't even understand myself, and it was infuriating I promise you. It was like nothing else mattered when Ffion was there, even though deep down I knew she was the problem. Everything else could wait, and Ffion was all that mattered, and that I needed to give her my full attention." He sighed heavily, gazing off outside of the window. "All common sense ran away and natural urges took over."

"Do you still feel like that now?"

"The minute I got into that clearing and saw her stalking towards you, you on the ground, everything went from one extreme to the other. I had never felt so angry. All I wanted to do what get between the two of you, and I was already over you because I could think about what to do. That wasn't me out there, yet it was at the same time. All I knew was that I needed to protect you, and that I'd do anything to do it."

A long time passed before either of them spoke again, but it was a comfortable silence. They watched the sun fall behind the clouds completely, the street likes flickering on down below and beyond, and slowly Judy's eyes began to adjust to the darkness of her room.

Eventually, Judy hopped down from the windowsill and sighed at her surroundings.

"I'm sorry about what I did," Nick said guiltily. "I'll get Finnick to help me get it back in shape; he owes me more than a rescue mission, anyway."

She smiled back at him. "It's alright. I should thank him, too." Then she frowned, remembering something. "What else happened that night? My sister was acting really weird, and she said your name."

He frowned, and then nodded. "Yeah, Tala, right? Looks like a smaller version of you?"

"That's the one."

"Yeah, she saw everything. I've got to hand it to her, she was no more afraid than you; you bunnies are tough cookies."

She rubbed her eyes, stressed, having should have known that she had seen more than need be. She felt awful, for no one her age should have seen an act like that. "No, no, no…"

"Hey, don't worry, Finnick was with her the entire time. She was safe."

"Finnick?"

"He's a little softy deep down."

Judy sighed heavily. "There's going to be a press conference soon. We have to get our story straight; rumours will have already spread by now."

"We tell the truth. That's all we can do." He looked sincere when he said it, and he was right. They couldn't do anything else but tell the truth, start to finish, and what the force's next move was. She made a mental list of jobs, the conference at the top. Yet she had some mammals to visit, too. She needed to set right the lives that had been wrecked, and even though they weren't out of the water yet, they were drifting ever closer to shore. The world was not going to turn into further division; they'd had enough of that already.

The predator rebels needed to be stopped, and _soon_.

"What're you thinking, carrots?"

"We need to make things right. Together this time." She looked up at him as he was shuffling away from the sill, holding his middle sorely as he did. "Starting with the victims after the conference, whenever that is."

"Monday." He said. "Bogo text me this morning. We have two days to prepare."

"Then we get our story straight, because they're going to be ruthless this time around." She replied.

"Why?"

"What's worse than a serum that makes predators go savage?" she asked him, and he replied almost instantly, if not solemnly.

"Predators who go savage on their own accord."

"Right," she said, gathering some feathers in her paws. "And you'll be their first victim."

* * *

 **Thank you for reading!**


	22. Unity

**Finally that last chapter is here!**

 **I'm sorry it took so long, I've been so busy with work its just taken me ages to get this written and finished!**

 **I do hope that in the (not so near) future to do a sequel, but please bear with me as I do need to focus on my studies for the time being which i'm sure you all with understand.**

 **Thank you all so much for following, reading and commenting on this story, it was fun to write and I can't wait to return to this storyline with you all!**

 **But for now, happy reading all the other amazing fan works out there!**

 **~H**

* * *

When Monday came around, Judy felt sick. She wasn't ready. She was hurting, she was fretting, and she hadn't slept a wink since the… _incident._ She couldn't think of anything else to call it; what do you call nearly getting murdered by a fox? It was all so fresh, and very real, so real that when she closed her eyes she relived it all over again. In some of the visions Nick hadn't turned up to protect her, but that was a nightmare she preferred to lock away in a box at the darkest corner of her mind.

They were going to destroy Nick. Everyone knew now that Nick had gone willingly savage, but refused to acknowledge that it was in her interest. Savage meant headline news, and better yet, this was a fox that was in the ZPD. It was ground breaking, a money maker, that was all that the press cared about. If Chief Bogo found any reason that Nick was no longer fit to work for them…

No. He wouldn't do that. _Pull yourself together, Hopps._

She stared in the mirror, adjusting the collar of her shirt. The force had sent her a new uniform, for her old one was beyond wrecked and hidden in the shadows beneath her bed, completely discarded and untouched. Somehow this new one didn't feel real, like it was a joke laughing at her. It felt tight and uncomfortable, pricking at her fur as if reminding her of the mess she had found herself in, even now. She tried to swallow, but her throat felt swollen.

Any minute now she was going to throw up, she knew it.

"Breathe, carrots." It was Nick on the other side of the door speaking, and it made her jump two paces away from the mirror. "I can hear that heart hammering from out here, which is very annoyed, by the way."

"You can come in," she called, refocusing on the mirror. It looked wrong, everything looked wrong.

She glimpsed Nick in the mirror, leaning against the doorframe behind her. He looked so calm and collected, just like he always did. His shirt was no tucked into his belt, his tie loose around his throat and his neck free from that top button. So scruffy, yet he looked right. Everything about Judy was sharp, in order, whilst Nick was smooth and endearingly messy. Why did he look so right and her so wrong.

"You look _fine,_ fluff." Nick said, exasperated.

"Am I even fit to be an officer anymore?" she said aloud. "I couldn't even be respected enough to arrest a fox, so what's the point."

"Okay, now you're blabbering rubbish because you're nervous." Nick said, strolling into the room with his paws stuffed in his pockets. His red fur blazed against the blue of his uniform, the green in his eyes shimmering, and suddenly Judy felt invisible in comparison.

She sighed heavily, her entire body shrinking, and Nick sighed with her. He nudged her gently, knowing she was still hurting, and urged her to turn around. "I'll be right next to you. You're not gonna be up there on your own, not like last time; I've got your back."

She looked up at him, looked him in the eyes, and she made herself believe him. This was just one stupid conference where the press were going to try and throw her off for their own personal gain. It was just a game to them, nothing more. She forced a smile, trying to believe that she was better than a group of nosey, obnoxious journalists. She would be the better animal, she had to be.

"Okay," she sighed, ears drooping. "Let's get this out of the way."

"After you, Officer Hopps." He replied, gesturing towards the door, and emphasising on the word 'officer'. He believed in her. That was all she needed to know. From now on they were in everything together, as a team, and they would never abandon the other again.

She led the way out of her apartment, Nick closely following, and walked towards the biggest challenge in her career.

No big deal.

* * *

Nick watched Judy hop from one foot to the other, wincing when she landed on the wounded one. It made him cringe each time, but when he tried to encourage her to stop, she would only do it more vigorously. Was this a coping mechanism that rabbits did? He couldn't fathom it. Nothing he said seemed to calm her, and now he simply couldn't say a word now that Chief Bogo began speaking to the public.

Granted, he was nervous. The wounds on her stomach and chest began to burn with the anticipation and worry, reminding him that he was going to be the centre of attention. He certainly wasn't happy about that part. Yet he was handling it much better than his nervous wreck of a partner. He had shuffled her so that she was at least twitching out of sight of the cameras and public, which was the least he could have done for her.

He listened to what Bogo had to say, explaining the attacks, the investigation, right onto Judy's disappearance, her family's safety, and the final confrontation that had gotten Nick involved. He couldn't lie to them. None of them could lie, not about this. A small number of predators were out to re-establish the relationship between predators and prey, a very illegal thing to do, but an even more dangerous situation for everyone involved. Families needed to be warned, just so they were aware and could at least watch their backs. Bogo spoke every ounce of truth he had in him, and yet the crowd grew more anxious and demanding if it was another case of Night Howlers.

"No, that case has been shut down and will remain that way due to the fact that we have a cure. This is different. These… _rebels_ are fully aware of their actions and are choosing specific targets to send out a message. This is a time we must stick together as a community, not divide into two different units. We are much bigger than the threat being presented."

"How could you know that?" demanded a pika, who had a microphone just to be heard clear enough due to his size, no bugger than a large rat.

"We have a black bear in custody, and he had no trace of the Night Howler in his system, and was stable enough to have a conversation with."

"But your fox went savage, correct?" the pika retorted, and Nick heart seized. _Here we go._ He felt Judy flinch beside him, and when he glanced at her she was looking at him with such hopelessness it was almost insulting. Was she really feeling guilty over the fact that he has taken the measures needed to save her life? He did what he had to do, and that was the end of it. Why was she so upset over what they both knew was an overall desperate act for salvation?

"Our fox did not go savage, sir," Bogo objected, clearly annoyed by the comment and the murmurs that followed.

"I beg to differ, chief," the pika replied, lifting up some photographers that were twice as big as him. He struggled to keep his balance before a fellow journalist, a puma, retrieved the images and passed them to Bogo, but not without sneaking a peek.

Nick already knew what the images consisted of, and began to grind his teeth at just how desperate and sly the press really were. Judy began to tremble, and Nick firmly grabbed her shoulder to keep her still, giving her an icy look. She needed to stop blaming herself for what could not be helped. He was not going to let some sleazy pika ruin his reputation.

"Officer Hopps, do you have anything to say about this?" the pika called out, snatching Judy's gaze from Nick to him.

"Sorry?"

"About the attack? Surely you must have felt threatened in such a scene, particularly with your own partner involved."

The other journalists began to chanter in agreement, much to Nick's growing annoyance.

"Um, no, you don't understand…"

"You must have been scared half to death! How awful, to know that your partner was gallivanting with the enemy, right under your nose. How could you not have known, Officer Hopps?"

Bogo turned back, looking concerned, and Nick purposely caught his eye. Nick lowered his snout ever so slightly, his eyes sharp and seeing all, his ears pricked with awareness, his tail swishing side to side ever so slightly with eager agitation.

His Chief nodded, and not without a squeak of protest from his small partner, Nick took the stand.

"Maybe it's me you should be firing the questions at, not my partner." Nick said loudly, silencing the crowd, who gawked like a group of idiots in the firing line of a sniper. "So, regardless of what those images imply, I did _not_ go savage."

"You showed the signs of aggression!" accused a stag, pointing a hoof at the young fox.

"On the contrary, I was showing signs of aggression in the best interests of my partner." Nick replied calmly.

"What about the vixen, Hunt? What was your relationship with her?" asked another member, a gazelle this time.

"A complicated one." Nick said sternly.

"Were you plotting with her?"

Exasperated, Nick lifted his paws as if to bat away the accusations, more annoyed than anything else. This was just a silly game they were playing to get yet another headline, and damn it he was not going to give them that satisfaction.

"Let me ask all of you a question," he began. "What would you do to save someone you cared about? A friend, a sibling, a child or a partner? What would you _do_? Would you just stand by and let the worst of the worst happen to them, or would you stand up against the threat with every bit of strength you had? That's what I had to do." He took a breath, finally having got the attention of everyone around him, including the sleazy pika and the panicky Judy behind him.

"A friend of mine once told me, that deep down, despite being evolved, we are still animals. Take that as what you will. However, bearing in mind the questions I asked before, what instincts would come into play if, say, a tiger began stalking towards your cubs, or your calves, or pups, with the intention of hurting them? Or what about a rhino charging towards your husband or wife? How would you react?"

He let them think for a moment, and whilst his heart was in his mouth with the truth of his words, he continued. "What you see in those photographs is a friend protecting another friend. The vixen in those photos is the savage, but me? I knew exactly what I was doing, how I did it, and what I intended to get out of the situation. I wanted Off- Judy, safe, and out of harm's way. What you see is an animal acting on _instinct, not_ Night Howlers, and I've learned over the last few weeks that our instincts are what ground us to the animals we truly are. Evolved, sure, but my God, we have more in common with our ancestors than we truly know."

"Do you think I'm a savage now?" he asked them, meeting each stunned pair of eyes with his own. "Or do you need to see the wounds I endured along side Judy to prove it? Better yet, do you really think that that rabbit behind me would so much as look at me if she thought I was going to hurt her?"

Nobody replied to him, frozen by his words.

"I ask you to look at yourselves in the mirror when you return to your families, and ask yourself, what would you do in return for their safety and wellbeing?" he told them. "If you can do that, and find the correct answer of _anything,_ Zootopia will become a better place once again."

A long silence, the only sound being the snapping of photographs clicking away in the distance. Nick looked back at Judy, who was stepping closer towards him, smiling brightly. She was proud. He could see it, right there in her smile and her eyes, and he smiled back. Silently he reached out his paw towards her, taking hers in his own as he helped her step up onto the stand. He watched her gaze out to the crowd, who now focussed on only her, letting his own words settle before them as they waited for her contribution. She was no longer shaking like a leaf, no longer fretting, and he smiled even wider.

"As our Chief has already said, we must stick together as one community, one _unit,_ to overcome the threat that is faced before us. Enough of the petty differences we bear, whether we have blunt teeth or sharp teeth; it doesn't matter. What matters is that we are so much bigger than this, and we can overcome it as animals, the very things we are. Our ancestors spent their lives fighting one another for survival; if we can overcome that, who's to say we can't over come a group of senseless rebels who have no compassion for the world we fought so hard to build?"

And suddenly Nick was watching all of the doubt melt away into nothing. He saw himself and Judy on the cameras, now being broadcast around the city and beyond, and what he saw was natural enemies standing side-by-side, paw in paw, a single unit. He recognised this at the same time as everyone else. If they could overcome their differences, police officer and former con artist, who was to say that no one else could? They were two animals, who happened to be of a difference species with difference characteristics, yet with the same mind set of wanting the world to just be _better._

Judy had once said that Zootopia was messy, and it was, but with mess you could clean it up. These rebels were just one heap of trash that simply needed to me scooped up and overthrown. If the force could get the rest of the city behind them, the rebels would have no one left to fear them, thus their existence becoming worthless. It was so, so simple.

But when had life ever set out to make things easy?

And then Chief Bogo hovered behind the pair, clearing his throat, but Nick heard the smile without needed to look up and see it. "No more questions."

In the explosion of camera flashes and a bombardment of questions, the two officers were guided off the stand and away from the crowd by security, much to their relief.

They waited patiently in the car for their Chief, who was finishing up the conference before driving them back to the station.

"Did I do good?" Nick asked, smirking at the rabbit beside him.

She grinned back. "No, you were dreadful."

Nick mockingly punched his own kneecap. "Damn."

A moment passed as they shared a soft laugh. "So what now? Home? Milkshakes? _Food?_ " Nick asked, cringing when his stomach growled incredibly loudly.

Judy turned away, gazing out of her window, looking thoughtful in the reflection. "Later. There's something we have to do first."

* * *

Tracking down Peter Bush's family was easy.

After going through his file, the first place to look was of course his original origin, a small house just on the inside of the Rainforest District. It was a pleasant little play, with a friendly neighbourhood where children played and the roads remained quiet. It was almost picture perfect. Heck, even Peter's old home had a letter box with 'The Bush Family' engraved into the metal, so family perfect it made Judy's heart flutter.

Nick followed her quietly as she made her way towards the door. Judy wasn't sure what to expect, particularly from a family who had fallen victim to the very worst, but she couldn't let the family continue on so broken. For the animals to begin fighting back against the rebels, the families already affected needed to be restored. Peter was number one of Judy's list, simply for how broken his life truly was.

Gently, she padded her paws against the oak red door of number twenty-two, Nick quietly lingering behind, and waited.

A moment passed until the door creaked open, revealing a young squirrel in a pink t-shirt and blue jeans. Judy silently searched for a name, and Poppy sprang to mind in an instant.

"You must be Poppy," Judy said gently. "My name is Judy Hopps, is your mom home?"

The child nodded, looking curious, before calling into the house for her mother. She disappeared into the house, and Judy waited another moment.

Mel, a squirrel as beautiful as Peter had described, came to the door with incredibly sad eyes but curious, twitch whiskers. She looked Judy up and down before she drank in Nick behind her, and her eyes flashed with recognition. "Officers, you were just on the news. What on earth can I do for you, you much be so tired from that terrible press conference." She said, feigning excitement. "Though what you said was truly inspiring."

"Actually," Judy said softly, "I wanted to ask you about your husband, Peter."

Mel's eyes flashed, and Judy thought she was about to close the door in her face. "What about him?"

"We were wondering if you wanted to see him again?" Judy asked, even gentler this time, and the look on Mel's face told Judy that that was not what she was expecting.

Suddenly, around Mel's legs were her three children; Zach, Poppy and Roy. They looked at her with such hope, and the love there was undeniable. This was a family that had been so broken for so long, and after all this time, someone was trying to fix them.

"Papa?" Roy whispered. The four of them turned to Judy and Nick, all of them looking so painfully buoyant, and Judy could only hope that Peter was still at the safe house they had last found him in.

"Would you like to come with us, Mrs Bush?" Nick said, gesturing towards the cruiser the pair had arrived in.

"Absolutely."

Everything was a blur from then on, from the drive to actually arriving at Peter's place to the agonising wait of his appearance. Judy refused to let the family climb the ladder, for it was far too dangerous, but it didn't take much to entice the male squirrel out of his hiding place and poke his head down below with a simple, "We have your family here!"

Nick and Judy waited in the car, watching from afar once Peter began to descend from the tree. It was an agonising sight, Judy's heart in her mouth and her breath painfully hitched. She just wanted one thing to go right, just this once, and it had to be the reunion of this family. It had to be. Everything else had been so cruel and un-kind, one family deserved a happy ending. This was that family.

And it was worth it.

In a blur, the family of five was together once more, crying and laughing with joy, embracing one another so tightly it was as if they would never, ever let go. They wept for so long and held on so tight, exchanging kisses and nuzzles and tears of a family that had once been so close finally reuniting. It was everything Judy wanted it to be and more, and even Nick looked slightly emotional at the scene before him.

Together, the pair would ensure that this type of thing never happened to this family, or any other family, again.

* * *

Zootopia was approaching dark times.

Nick and Judy were far from out of the woods, even now.

But, if a fox and a rabbit can before the faces of a unity, regardless of their differences and their history, who was to say that others couldn't?

Granted, they were far from safe, and the future was going to test them to the limit, but for now, they had each other. Better yet, they had the weight of Zootopia behind them, which meant for now, the threat remained dormant.

But for how long?


End file.
